


Not A Boyfriend Stealer

by Bookworming



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Expect a bit of Yoongi too, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, HyungWonho - Freeform, Hyungwonho are too good together I had to, M/M, There's a lot of Kihyuk, kihyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-11 14:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworming/pseuds/Bookworming
Summary: For Chae Hyungwon, working at his mom's pawn shop can get pretty boring (even with his hamster best friend for company) but perks come in the form of Shin Hoseok who drops by at the shop every week to buy a thing or two.Only problem is, Hyungwon is sure that whatever he's buying is for his girlfriend and Hyungwon would sooner go coffee-less for a year than be a boyfriend stealer.His friends (and his mom) have other plans, though.





	1. A Brilliant Idea

**Author's Note:**

> It's 12:30 am haha. After writing Kihyungwon, I knew I had to write Hyungwonho as well and here it is! If you're reading this, thank you <3 I hope you like this!  
> Also, please don't be hesitant to comment, I'm open to constructive criticism and also to anything else you might have to say!
> 
> Oh in case you're wondering why Hyungwon's mum is called Mrs. Kim- In Korea women keep their surnames even after they get married :)
> 
> Oh also, to a certain cat who helped me :') Thank you :P Your ideas helped loads and you beta reading saved my time!! I'll buy you coffee :D  
> And to Jungkook's number 1 fan (Don't kill me) Thank you for reading earlier on *laughs.

It was 7 in the evening on one Friday evening and Yoo Kihyun was beginning to get really bored when he spotted a familiar figure in the distance, approaching the store where he worked with a pleasant smile on his face.

“Chae Hyungwon.” He called out to his best friend, a smirk growing on his face.

Hyungwon was sitting on the chair beside his, completing his accounts homework.

“Chae Hyungwon!”

“Fuck off, Kihyun.” Hyungwon replied, eloquent as ever.

“Hyungwon, look up, quick.”

“Shut up, I don’t want to see another photo of Yoo  Seungwoo.”

“Hya, it’s not what you think it is-“

“Even if he looks ‘adorable as fuck’, I don’t care so just-“

“It’s not about him you idiot! It’s for you! It’s that guy that you’re in love with. He’s literally eight feet away from here.”

Hyungwon rolled his eyes.

“I’m not in love with anybody so-“

He was cut off by the sound of the bell ringing as the door got pushed open.

“Excuse me?”

Hyungwon gaped momentarily, startled at the appearance of the customer. It was almost time to close up so he hadn’t been expecting anyone, let alone _him._

The buff, pale skinned man with purple-dyed hair walked into the store, smiling in their direction.

 Seems like Kihyun hadn’t been fooling around for once.

“H-how may I help you, sir?” He stammered intelligently.  

From the corner of his eyes he saw Kihyun disappearing under the counter, doubled over in silent laughter.

“Good evening.” Shin Hoseok greeted, his smile as radiant as ever.

Hyungwon smiled back painfully, planning Kihyun’s death.

“Good evening. I’m sorry, where are my manners.” He mumbled, going red in the cheeks.

_I’ll make that hamster run a mile on his wheel-_

“No, no, please don’t be sorry.” Hoseok replied.

He was wearing sleeveless again and his glorious arms were on display. Hyungwon was all but ready to be choked by those veiny- muscley-

 “Do you happen to have any silver jewellery for women?” Hoseok interrupted his thoughts, eyes scanning the shelves behind and around them.

Hyungwon glanced down at his incomplete homework before looking at Kihyun and almost scoffed when he saw the other avoiding his gaze, pretending to brush off non-existent dust from the counter.

“Yes sir, please come this way.” Hyungwon said, giving Hoseok a tight lipped smile.

He was all too familiar with this routine. Every week Hoseok would come in to his pawn shop-

Well, it wasn’t _his_ pawnshop; it was his mother’s-

And buy something or the other.

Whatever he bought, it was usually something that would be gifted to a woman.

‘A significant other’ in Hyungwon’s opinion.

Like last week he had bought a pretty hat, the week before a set of earrings and the week before that it had been sunglasses.

Now Hyungwon wasn’t saying that these things couldn’t be used by men, no, he wasn’t a judgemental bastard.

It just so happened that Hoseok always ended his request for items with a ‘for women.’

He led Hoseok through an open door to the back, where they kept jewellery and other, more precious items. In the corner there was a glass door which led to their living room. His mother had drawn the curtains in front of the door, however.

“May I know what kind of jewellery you’re looking for? We have earrings, pendants, necklaces- oh! Last week someone sold a beautiful arm band. Would you like to see it?” Hyungwon faced Hoseok and found that his eyes were shining as he looked around. He was also biting down on his lower lip.

Hyungwon’s smile turned painful.

_Fuck me, I’m begging you._

“I’m not sure; she’s not much of an arm band person. She would like pendants though, I’m sure about that.” Hoseok said, nodding to himself before giving Hyungwon another radiant smile that could probably revive dying souls. (Like his)

Kihyun had better be writing his obituary.

 “Very well, sir. What do you think about this?” He questioned and started to bring out a bunch of pendants that had been sold there previously.

If there was anything Hyungwon knew he was good at, it was keeping a blank face (and _dancing_ but- not the point). His ability to maintain a poker face came in handy when he secretly checked Hoseok out every week. He had tried not to but he couldn’t help it. He spent the whole week waiting for Hoseok to turn up and thought up scenarios in his head in which he blew Hoseok’s mind away with his charms and wittiness the next time he turned up.

Maintaining this blank face, he watched Hoseok going through all the pendants he had kept on the table, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“They’re not really her style, she likes things that are more subtle, you know?” Hoseok said finally. 

Shame on you, Chae Hyungwon, this beautiful man probably has an even more beautiful _(haha, as if)_ girlfriend.

_STOP FANTASIZING._

Those were all the pendants they had.

Well, there was _one_ but he didn’t know if he should be selling it. He shouldn’t... But then he looked at Hoseok’s disappointed face and gave in.

“Then how about this?” He mumbled hesitantly “It’s a bit more expensive but-“

“Oh that’s okay!” Hoseok interrupted before looking embarrassed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have cut you off. It’s just that I got my pay check this week so I can spend more than usual. Not a lot, though. I mean, I’m only working part time anyway; I still have a long way to go before I can buy the really _expensive_ things. I’ll get there, though. I have to, it’s my only choice since I want to do whatever I can to- oh my god. I’m so sorry, I’m blabbering!”

Hyungwon stared blankly at Hoseok for a moment but the longer he looked at Hoseok’s rapidly reddening face the more his lips twitched.

_Blank face, Hyungwon, blank-_

All of a sudden he let out a short chuckle which escalated into a silent laugh that he tried to cover with his palm.

He couldn’t have helped it if he had tried; Hoseok was too damn cute.

Would it be weird if he fell to the floor dramatically and asked for god to take him?

 “Ha-ha,” Hoseok mumbled weakly, rubbing the back of his reddened neck.

“No, no!” Hyungwon shook his head in alarm, not wanting to offend the guy he had been crushing on for months. “That was- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh! Your blabbering didn’t bother me, in fact that was absolutely precious.”

_That was what???_

“I mean. I’m sorry; I’ll just show you the.. Slightly more expensive pendant.”

With that Hyungwon turned his back to Hoseok and scrunched up his face in embarrassment, his fingers curling at his sides.

_Absolutely precious?_

_What has taken over you, Chae?_

He could have kicked himself.

He took a breath and let it out slowly.

Embarrassment aside, he was still Chae Hyungwon, meaning that he managed to regain his composure within five seconds.

The pendant he had had in mind wasn’t kept on display because it was quite precious. He brought it out instead from one of the drawers and carried it over to Hoseok.

“This is the one I was telling you about.” He said lifting the small, gorgeous silver rose pendant. The pendant had belonged to his aunt; a gift from his uncle which she had treasured. Until their divorce, that is. 

“It’s... Stunning.” Hoseok whispered, sounding breathless, his hand extending for it. “She loves roses- it’s perfect! I’ll take it. How much is it?”

He hadn’t seen Hoseok look this excited over anything else before.

Hyungwon had never been more jealous and he didn’t even like roses that much.

“It’s- it’s for 69,000 won.” He answered.

“Oh...” Hoseok mumbled, his face falling at once. “Is it... Can you keep it for two days? I mean- I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s not fair to other customers but I promise you I can buy it in two days! It’s just that it’s _exactly_ her type and I don’t think I can afford to buy something like this in an actual jewellery store. She would absolutely light up if I got it for her. I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

Hoseok sighed softly before holding out the pendant for Hyungwon to take back. “I’m sorry, that was foolish of me. I’m sure you can’t.. Hold on to things because of customers like me-“

“Hoseok-ssi,” Hyungwon interrupted. It was the first time he had addressed Hoseok directly by his name. His heartbeat was ridiculously irregular.

Hoseok looked taken aback by his interruption.

“Yes?”

“Come back in two days.” Hyungwon mumbled.

_Come back every day so I don’t have to wait._

“I can keep it for two days.”

_I can keep it for as long as you want._

“I won’t sell it for two days.”

_Who am I kidding; I probably won’t sell it even if my life depends on it._

Hoseok looked like he didn’t believe him but slowly he began to smile hopefully.

“Really? It won’t be too much of a trouble?”

_I’d fucking kill someone to see that smile, this is nothing._

“You are a loyal customer, this is the least I- _we_ can do.”

Hoseok grinned at him.

“You’re too kind..?” He trailed off awkwardly.

“Hyungwon.” Hyungwon mumbled, looking away. His cheeks were definitely dusted with a faint pink.

“You’re too kind, Hyungwon-ssi. I’ll see you in two days!”

 

“You fucking did not.”

“Fuck off, Kihyun.”

“No, you bitch, I won’t. The rose pendant should get at least _100,000_ _won_ and you know that better than anyone. Your aunt talked her head off when she gave it up! She made you promise that 1, you wouldn’t sell it for less than 100,000 and 2, you would try to save it for a nice girl you have fallen for.”

As soon as Kihyun brought it up Hyungwon thought back to the day when his aunt had left the pendant in his possession.

_“Hyungwon-ah, you recognize this pendant, don’t you?”_

It would have been impossible not to. He hadn’t seen his aunt go a day without it in her neck.

_“You know how much I love it; it’s been a part of me for years. That piece of shit bought it for me on our 5 th anniversary. Here, take it. Get it out of my sight.”_

Hyungwon couldn’t have been more confused. Why on earth was his aunt giving it to him?

_“As much as I loathe the man that gave me this, I can’t stand to see this in the wrong hands. Take it. When you fall in love with a nice girl, you’ll know what to do with it.”_

_“Love? Aunty that’s not happening for a long time, let alone with a girl-“_

_“Oh shush. If you don’t fall in love till you’re 30 then sell it off. But mind you, don’t give it to anyone who offers you less that 100,000 won for it. I’d rather you find a nice girl and give it to her, though.”_

Hyungwon shook the memory out of his head and stared at Kihyun. His face was screaming ‘I told you so’ and it was beginning to annoy the hell out of him.

He spoke up in defence for himself. “Okay, but 1, Hoseok-ssi is a loyal customer of this shop, if there’s anyone who deserves a discount like that it’s him and 2, I’m fucking _gay_ , Kihyun so there’s going to be no nice girl to save it for. Besides, Hoseok-ssi is buying it for his girlfriend who, being _his_ girlfriend has to be somewhat decent at least.”

Kihyun glared at Hyungwon.

“You pathetic, hopeless excuse for a human being,” He began. “Do you even hear yourself? Why the fuck are you making this sacrifice, may I know? Hoseok-ssi has no idea of the actual cost of the pendant and as someone who likes him; you should be trying to get him to like _you_ , not trying to improve his relationship with his girlfriend!

“Oh shut up, Kihyun. Don’t give me dating advice until you’ve managed to ask Minhyuk out on a date.”

He took pleasure in watching a flustered Kihyun stumble over his words. “That- that’s beside the point, beanpole! Minhyuk and I- we’re just friends, okay? We’re talking about you and Hoseok-ssi right now. Don’t change the subject.”

“It’s already done, Ki. I told him 69,000 won, I can’t change it now. That too is too expensive for him.”

“Fine, then. How the hell are you going to explain it to your mother?”

“I.. Didn’t think that far ahead.” Hyungwon replied soullessly.

“Of course you didn’t, you’re a moron.”

“... Fuck off.”

“Ugh, your mother is going to bury us alive. I can’t believe I let this happen.”

“Look, at least Hoseok is hot, she agrees with me on that.”

“Oh shut up, she’s already disappointed in you for not having bagged him yet.” Kihyun muttered with a role of his eyes. “Those looks are wasted on you.”

“He’s in a relationship, bitch. Unlike you both, I’m positively against boyfriend stealing.”

“I’m not asking you to steal him from his girlfriend; I’m just asking you not to be the best man in their wedding, dumbfuck.”

“Call me dumb one more time and I’ll roll you up, Shorty.”

“I’d like to see you try-“

“I think I’ll call Minhyuk-“

“Well nothing will stop me from going to Hoseok-ssi-”

“Boys?”

Startled, both turned to the glass door to see Hyungwon’s mother stepping in with a frown on her face.

“Yes mother!”

“Yes Mrs. Kim!”

 “Fighting again?” She asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Kihyun glanced at Hyungwon’s face.

_Shorty, did you say?_

“Mrs. Kim, Hyungwon actually-“

But before Kihyun could get another word in, Hyungwon had caught him in a death-hold and covered his mouth.

“gevtofgfwog-“

“Hyungwon! Leave the poor boy alone at once!”

“Okay mother, I’ll leave the poor boy alone.” Hyungwon said with a smirk and let go of a furious Kihyun.

_If that bastard hadn’t been tall-_

Kihyun was all but ready to punch him and maybe it was too obvious because Hyungwon’s mother interrupted before things could get ugly.

“Now, now. No more fighting or I’ll have to have a little chat with Minhyuk and Hoseok.”

“Eomma!”

“But Mrs. Kim, it was him-”

“Let me in on the gossip later. Dinner’s going cold. Come in and no more fighting or I’ll carry out my threat.”

Both boys sighed and followed Hyungwon’s mother inside, locking up doors and windows and turning off lights as they went.

 

Two days passed without incident. Hyungwon and Kihyun attended their classes during the day time and took over the shop in the afternoon, bickering during the time there were no customers.

On Monday, as Hoseok had promised, he returned to the store.

Hyungwon had been feeling nervous all day, one because Hoseok was going to buy the pendant that day and he still had no excuse to give to his mother and two because Kihyun wasn’t going to be in the store that day, having made plans to eat out with Minhyuk.

As much as he wanted to tease the hamster he also felt very proud of him for finally doing something about his feelings for their friend.

They bickered and argued all the time but Kihyun was as good as his brother. Their arguments most of the time occurred because of how different they were.

Kihyun was an obsessive neat freak with a temper shorter than he was. He was also the reason that Hyungwon managed to get out of bed and get stuff done, though and he looked after him almost as much as his mother did, cooking when she was out and making sure he ate all three meals.

Hyungwon could come off as disinterested and blank most of the times but Kihyun knew that the boy was a softie and would probably take on someone twice his size if they tried to lay a finger on Kihyun.

Both Kihyun and Hyungwon were students at Kyung Hee University but while Hyungwon was majoring in Management, Kihyun was majoring in law.

Hyungwon’s mother always said that she couldn’t be prouder of both her boys.

His thoughts were flowing along those lines when Hoseok walked into the store, without his usual pleasant smile.

Hyungwon straightened immediately and cleared his thoughts at once, secretly noticing how good Hoseok looked even in casual clothing.

“Good evening, Hoseok-ssi.” He found himself saying before wanting to kick himself.

Since when where they on first name bases?

“Hello, Hyungwon-ssi. How are you?”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Hoseok was down. His usual smile was missing, for one. Also his shoulders were somewhat slumped as he came and stood in front of him.

Had he perhaps fought with his girlfriend?

“I’m good but you don’t seem to be.” Hyungwon replied, hoping he wasn’t crossing lines.

“It’s that obvious, huh?” Hoseok mumbled with a tight lipped smile.

_Fuck fuck, I’m not equipped to deal with this. What should I do? Should I call Kihyun?_

“Did- did something happen?” Hyungwon asked tentatively.

Hoseok opened his mouth and closed it, looking embarrassed. He couldn’t meet Hyungwon’s eyes even.

_Don’t tell me he broke up with his girlfriend-_

“Hyungwon-ssi. I’m really really sorry but I can’t buy the pendant today.”

_Shit, he was right-?_ _No wait._

“Today?” Hyungwon repeated.

“Yes.. I tried to get an advanced payment but my boss refused because he already gave an advanced payment to a co-worker. I’m still short of 30,000 won.”

“Oh.” A startled Hyungwon said and let out a short breath. “I see.”  _Kihyun should have been there. Kihyun would know what to do._

“I’m really sorry, I know I asked you to keep it for me and I honestly tried but my boss.. He isn’t the kindest and. I’m sorry, those are just excuses.”

Often it would happen that Hyungwon was in the middle of writing an exam or when he was half asleep that a brilliant idea would hit him out of nowhere. By the time he’d finished the exam or woken up properly, he’d always have forgotten whatever the idea was. That day however, for a change, a brilliant idea hit him when he actually needed it.

He tried to contain his smile, in case he came off as creepy to Hoseok.  

“If you don’t mind me asking, where do you work?” He asked. He was beginning to feel excited in spite of himself.

“Huh? At the convenience store down the street. Why?”

“Well, what are your working hours?”

Hoseok looked awkward so Hyungwon continued hastily.

“It’s because- my mother- she owns this store, she was looking for someone to clean up the store in the morning before it's opened up.”

“Oh. It’s really kind of you to tell me but I already have a job-“

“If,” Hyungwon interrupted quickly “If you want I can talk her into letting you work here for a while to pay off the remaining amount.”

Hoseok chewed on his lips as he processed the offer.

“She always asks me and Kihyun to do it before we go off to college but Kihyun’s classes start at 7:30 which is too early and I.. I can’t wake up early enough for classes, let alone to clean things.”

Hoseok let out a goofy smile at that.

Maybe that wasn’t the complete truth but it wasn’t a complete lie either. Kihyun being Kihyun would always clean up before going, even if that meant he’d have to get up earlier still.

Kihyun could use the break and get some sleep and maybe act a little less salty too.

Hyungwon was a genius to have come up with this.

“You’re really kind Hyungwon-ssi. Both you and your mother...”

Oh no.

_But what?_

“But I have morning classes too and when I get time I’m either helping my mum out or working or.. Or something.”

_Or meeting your girlfriend?_

“I don’t think it will be possible for me. Thank you all the same.”

“Okay.” Hyungwon tried not to sound sulky.

_Tried._

He waited for Hoseok to say goodbye and leave but as usual, Hoseok seemed enticed by the various items sold at the shop.

Hyungwon followed his gaze to a wooden wall clock which had been sold by someone yesterday.

“Amazing.” Hoseok said, most probably to himself. “It’s really unique.”

“The honey bee wall clock?” Hyungwon confirmed.

“Yeah, it reminds me of one of my friends.”

“The clock? Really?”

“Ah, his name is Jooheon so we call him joohoney or honey at times.”

_Jooheon? Where have I heard that name before?_

“Speaking of friends, I don’t see your friend here. The.. Short, cute one?”

_Cute?_

_The fuck?_

“The hamster?” He questioned in disbelief.

“Hamster? Well... Now that you’ve mentioned it he _does_ look like one.”

Who’s jealous? Hyungwon isn’t. Not at all.

“Kihyun is out...” He said. “On a date.” He added for good measure.

“Nice.” Hoseok said before flashing him one of his usual, crinkled-eye smiles, perfect teeth on display.

Hyungwon almost sighed in relief. Sad Hoseok was something he wasn’t used to.

“Well, I should get going, then. Thank you so much, Hyungwon-ssi and I’m truly sor-“

“Please don’t say sorry one more time.” Hyungwon cut in with an awkward laugh. His own neck was turning red with embarrassment now.

Hoseok grinned before waving and leaving and Hyungwon collapsed on the chair behind the counter, so done for the day.

When would he get to sleep?

 

Kihyun came home from his date at 11, all secret smiles and blushes. His mood was so good that he didn’t even notice how messy their room was.

In Hyungwon’s defence, though, he was completely exhausted. College assignments had been piling up so he’d had no choice but to get them done as soon as he could.

While Kihyun kept all his things on his desk in an organised manner as he studied or completed assignments, Hyungwon’s notes were usually all around the house. He couldn’t study in one place and that’s how he ended up misplacing half his things.

Their room was relatively big and comfortable so Hyungwon couldn’t study there unless Kihyun was in the room with him. Every time he tried, he would fall asleep because of how nice and cozy it was.

It was a rectangular-shaped room with two large beds, two study tables (one of which was systemized while the other had books, papers and pens scattered all over), chairs and bean bags for furniture. They also had a bathroom in there and some decorations in the room to make it homey.

Hyungwon had been completing his assignments while listening to music and that was why there were papers everywhere and his drawers had been turned inside out in search of his highlighters and notepads.

He paused his music and pushed his things aside before staring at Kihyun. “The date went well, I’m assuming.” He said, hugging his pillow to his chest.

“It wasn’t a date, I told you. We just went for a film and then had dinner.” Kihyun muttered, beginning to change out of his clothes.

“Yoo Kihyun, don’t try to fool me. You're wearing your date jeans- the ones you wear like once a year cause that’s how often you go on dates.”

“Shut up.” Kihyun responded without heat. “It wasn’t a date.”

“If not, then tell me what kept you there till 11 in the night.”

“Uh hunger?” Kihyun replied with a roll of his eyes.

“What kind of hunger?”

“Shut up.” Kihyun mumbled shaking his head in disbelief. “I told you all we did was watch a film and grab dinner. There’s no reason to call it a date. Hell, Minhyuk almost invited his younger brother cause he wanted to see the film really badly too.”

Hyungwon snorted in amusement, relenting a bit.

“Fine but I still want details.”

“Later, first tell me, did Hoseok-ssi drop by? Did he buy the pendant? Did you tell Mrs. Kim-“

“Slow down, hero. Yup, he did come.”

Hyungwon told him everything and then waited to be called stupid for his suggestion.

“Wow, Chae.”

“Wow?” Hyungwon raised his eyebrow.

“I’m impressed you finally managed to have a somewhat decent conversation with him. He knows your name too, finally.”

“Yes but it wasn’t me he called cute...” Hyungwon said sulkily before glaring at Kihyun.

“What did I do?”

“He called you cute. _You_ cute.”

“Well for your kind information, there are some people who would argue that I’m not all that bad looking.”

“That’s because you’re not.”

“Exactly, I mean, I practically look like Park Bogum so it’s natural to say I’m cute-“

“Alright, alright, don’t rub it in my face and stop dreaming already. Park Bogum? Did you hit your head somewhere?”

“Mean. Anyway, you know I’m kidding, Hyungwon. He probably didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t get jealous of me- however tempted you might be- there’s still the matter of his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, he did hint that he needs time to hang out with her.” Hyungwon sighed and stretched out on his bed, dropping a book in the process. “I was really hoping he would agree to the offer. This way I’d feel less guilty about-“

“About knocking off 31,000 won from the price of the pendant?”

“About liking him.”

“Come again?” Kihyun asked, bewildered.

“If he started working with us, I’d see him all the time and get over my infatuation quickly.”

“ _Or_ you’d see him more often and end up liking him more? Didn’t you do this so that you could grow closer?”

“I’m not a boyfriend steal-“

“Hyungwon-ah, we’ve been over this. No one’s asking you to seduce him away from his girlfriend. We’re just trying to get you to become friends with him.”

“That’s all, huh?” Hyungwon asked sceptically.

“And we’re hoping that he falls for your frog-like charms and forgets his girlfriend.” Kihyun added with a child-like grin.

Hyungwon could only shake his head.

“He loves her, can’t you tell? He’s not going to fall for my charms-“

“You forgot frog-like-“

“And forget the woman who he _loves._ If you were in his place would you forget Minhyuk just because I- what- _flirted_ with you or something?”

“Okay first of all, eew, you’re my brother, dude and second, like I said, I’m not asking you to flirt with him. Just be yourself. Try to befriend him. Make him your hyung.”

“Well... That I can do.”

“Good, then do it! Be confident, for Christ’s sake. As much as it befuddles me it’s still true that you’re quite handsome.” Kihyun added with a playful roll of is eyes.

“I’ll try.”

“Great, now sleep, you have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Kill me.”

“Not today, I’ve had a good day.”

“Did you get kissed or something?”

Kihyun ignored him, (obviously) feigning a yawn. “I’m going to bed.”

“You bitch- did you leave out the juicy parts?”

“There were no juicy parts! Go to sleep.”

“You didn’t kiss him?”

“Not... quite.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. Sleep now.”

“Fine, fine.”

“And Hyungwon?”

“Hm?”

“You better clean up the room tomorrow or I’ll chase you with a broom.”

“Fucking hell, I thought you missed it.”

“You think?”

“I’m going to have to ask Minhyuk to kiss you senseless or something at this rate-“

“HYA.”

 

Hyungwon woke up at an ungodly hour (seven in the morning) to the sound of Kihyun’s voice.

“-Hyungwon-ah, come on, get up. You don’t want to be late.”

“No. Go away.”

“I am. I have classes in a bit. Don’t forget to eat breakfast.”

Hyungwon rolled over and checked his phone.

“Fuck you.” He said over his shoulder, before turning onto his stomach and preparing to go to sleep again.

“You can curse me all you want but the real reason I woke you up-“

“Cause you hate me? Save it, I know.”

“Stop being dramatic. It was to tell you that-“

“Go away, Kihyun-“

“Hoseok-ssi is downstairs.”

Hyungwon scoffed and covered his ears with his pillow.

 “Stop bullshitting me and get lost. I’m going back to sleep.”

“Fine, it’s your decision after all.”

There was the sound of the door opening and closing before there was complete silence in the room.

Hyungwon closed his eyes tighter and called upon the sleep gods. That’s right; he could sleep in peace now that the hamster had gone.

_Hoseok-ssi is downstairs._

His classes started at 9, meaning he could very much sleep for another hour.

_Hoseok-ssi-_

He just had to get up and wash his face before heading to class and listening to his professor blabber about god knows what-

_Hoseok-ssi-_

And take notes so that he wouldn’t be completely lost the next day.

_Hoseok-_

_Ah fuck this shit._

It was probably a prank to make him get out of bed. Only Kihyun was childish enough to pull a prank like this. Whatever, he would go downstairs, look around once and then come back upstairs before sleeping for another hour.

With that he dragged himself out and made his way out his room and down the stairs, blinking as he went.

He might as well take a glass of coffee upstairs to drink once he’d actually woken up.

Once he was in the living room, he had only to look through the glass door to see if Hoseok was actually there. Pushing back the curtain, he leaned his forehead against the door and glanced around.

The shop was tranquil, the rays of light coming in from the windows lighting up the dust. It didn’t take long to realize that Hoseok was definitely not in there. The lights were all off and he was sure that he went out; he’d see the open sign facing his way.

_That bitch Kihyun, I’m going to kill him._

Coffee, he’d just take his coffee and go.

So he made his way into the kitchen and headed for the coffee-maker to make some coffee but he found that coffee had already been made.

_At least Kihyun had had the decency to make the coffee._

“Good morning Hyungwon.” He heard his mother say behind him. She was probably reading the newspaper at the dining table.

“No mum, I’m going back to bed.” He told her and filled his mug with the bitter, beautiful brown liquid, the smell of which was already beginning to do wake him. That won’t do, he needed to get more sleep.

“Good morning, Hyungwon-ssi!”

_Huh. Was he really that sleepy that he was imagining-_

Hyungwon whirled around and almost dropped his mug of coffee.

There he was, dressed in jeans and a button down, hair parted on the side, bright smile on.

_Hoseok-ssi?_

Hyungwon faced him in his baby blue pyjamas, his hair a mess atop his head, clutching his mug of coffee like a homeless fellow with the totality of one possession.

It was Hoseok indeed.

_What on earth is he doing in my kitchen with a cup of coffee and a sun-like smile-_

He was going to kill Yoo Kihyun that night.

If he didn’t die there itself, that is.

 


	2. Mornings Are Rough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read and commented! You guys push me to write :D There's a reference to a song down there. Here it is!   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR6_QsbliUw  
>  if you want you can listen to the song! Keep the lyrics on tho ^-^

Like Kihyun, Minhyuk too was majoring in law at Kyung Hee University. Since they lived in the same neighbourhood, they usually took the bus together.

It was one of the only perks of morning classes- being able to take the bus with Minhyuk.

Some days, when it was freezing cold outside and his blanket _begged_ for him to stay, to go back to sleep for just another hour- it was the thought of seeing Minhyuk’s disgustingly bright, beautiful smile that finally got him out of bed.

He hated himself a bit for being that way. (He made sure not to voice these thoughts around Hyungwon)

Since last night though, Kihyun had a feeling that things would get awkward between them and for the first time, he wasn’t looking forward to taking the same bus as Minhyuk. Would things change so much that he’d get uncomfortable? Would their friendship of so many years get affected?

They’d known each other since the age of 12, when Kihyun and his family had first moved to Seoul. This was five years before his parents had passed away in a car accident so naturally he hadn’t been living with Hyungwon.

The house they used to live in was in fact opposite Minhyuk’s house. It wasn’t the biggest of houses but it held a lot of memories for Kihyun. Even today when he walked past it, he couldn’t stop his eyes from lingering for a bit before he walked on.

He’d first met Minhyuk three minutes after they had arrived at their new house. He’d just opened the door of his new room when someone had begun to ring their doorbell continuously. Without as much as glancing at his room he’d made his way to the front door, sure that the person ringing their bell had to be a madman.

He’d never seen a madman in real life.

Now he had known that Seoul would be very different from his hometown. He’d known that he would probably have a lot more adventures once he moved but he’d had no idea that adventure would come knocking at his door ( _literally_ ) within five minutes of him moving there.

His father had opened the door urgently and he’d stood behind him, peeking cautiously to get a look at their visitor.

The man behind the door was no madman.

In fact, it wasn’t a man at all.

They’d seen a boy who looked like he was around Kihyun’s age. He was standing outside with a huge grin, eyes crescents bubbling with curiosity.

He found out in the next fifteen minutes that Minhyuk may not be a man but he was definitely mad.

The bus stop was five minutes from their house. When he reached there, Minhyuk was already present, yawning, his mouth wide open.

Kihyun stopped in his tracks and asked himself for the hundredth time why he liked this man. 

Minhyuk spotted Kihyun then and grinned, waving even though he was four feet away.

“Kihyun-ah! Come fast, the bus will be here any minute.” Minhyuk was practically shouting, gesturing for him to move his ass.

_Minhyuk and awkward?_

_What were you thinking, Kihyun?_

He bit his lip and walked over to Minhyuk, shaking his head at his own lack of judgement. Of course, he was the awkward one, not Minhyuk.

“Are you planning on waking up the entire neighbourhood? Be quieter.” He retorted.

“Yes, I wanna wake them all up.” Minhyuk responded shamelessly. “Why should we be the only ones who have to get up early while other people get to stay in bed and sleep till noon?” He put his hands in his pockets, almost bouncing with unnecessary excitement.

_He’s acting like nothing happened._

“Who even sleeps till noon? They all have things to do. ” Kihyun muttered, watching Minhyuk from the corner of his eyes. He was drawing something on the ground with his foot.

He was being the same as usual.

“Ya but _we_ have to sit through boring lectures at 7:30 in the morning.” He said and pouted.

_Well, it’s not like we kissed._

Kihyun tried his best not to sigh out loud.

“Oh, there it is. The bus is here!” Minhyuk exclaimed.

_I guess I imagined it after all._

“It’s big and yellow. Kinda hard to miss, don’t you think? I can see it clearly so no need to shout. When will you learn-“

“Stop nagging and come on!”

Kihyun almost swore when Minhyuk grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the now stationary bus, letting go only when they were inside.

_How does that fucker have such warm hands all times of the year?_

Minhyuk settled down by the window of the last seat and patted the seat beside him, beaming at Kihyun.

Kihyun made his way to the back slowly, greeting some of the older people in the bus as he went.

As soon as he was seated, Minhyuk rested his head against his shoulder.

“Wake me up when we get there, Kihyunie.” He requested, pressing himself closer to Kihyun’s side, getting comfortable. “You will, won’t you?”

Kihyun didn’t trust himself to speak so he nodded once. That satisfied Minhyuk and got him to close his eyes. He would have peace for the next fifteen minutes.

He chewed on his lip and tried to swallow the hurt that was rising up his throat and making his eyes do weird shit like filling up.  

He was so, so stupid. He went around calling Hyungwon pathetic but here he was, getting his hopes up for nothing and then feeling hurt like a rejected 12 year old child.

Honestly, what had he been expecting? A kiss and a fucking ring?

_Get out of dreamland already, you stupid fool. It’s been ten years!_

He blinked away the threatening tears and pulled out his phone from his pocket, quickly connecting his earphones and increasing the volume.

Within moments Yoo Seungwoo’s honey-like voice was in his ears.

 

_How are you? I’m just ok_

_I’m working hard and exercising hard_

_I’m hanging out with people, I’m busy_  
But whoever I meet  
Why do I keep feeling empty?

_I thought I’d be ok, I didn’t know I’d be like this  
But suddenly, you wash over me like a wave_

_I was so sick of you, I wanted to escape from you  
but my feet keep going toward you..._

_*_

Hyungwon cleared his throat and tried discreetly (desperately) to flatten his hair and appear a little more presentable.

“H-Hoseok-ssi. Good morning.” He croaked.

He couldn’t help it; his voice became two times deeper in the morning. He hadn’t so much as drunk water yet.

His eyes travelled from Hoseok to his mother and back to Hoseok again. The scene in front of him didn’t make the slightest sense. He had no idea why Hoseok of all people would be in his kitchen at seven in the morning, drinking coffee and chatting with _his mother_.

As for his mother, he had no idea why she had that look on her face.

That look she had when he and Kihyun made trouble.

It was then that his mother addressed him. “Hyungwon-ah,” she began in _that tone_ and immediately he knew that he had fucked up.

It was this tone where her voice would get all airy and falsely pleasant and her face would become neutral, hiding her intentions.

_Shit shit shit._

 “So, Hoseok was telling me about the rose pendant that we’re selling to him. The one that once belonged to your aunt.”

_Fuck, fuck._

_Kihyun, he needed Kihyun._

“I had no idea it belonged to your aunt. She must have an exceptional taste!” Hoseok spoke up happily, placing his empty coffee cup on the table.

“She does.” Hyungwon’s mother said with a smile. Naturally Hoseok was oblivious to the threat that the smile held.

Hyungwon lowered his head and chewed on his bottom lip, listening to his mother in silence.

“He told me how you offered him a job over here to pay off the remaining _30,_ 000 _won._ ” His mother went on. “That was nice of you.”

How would he be paying for this?

“Hyungwon-ssi is really kind.” Hoseok agreed seriously. “And so are you, for accepting me. Please take care of me.” He said and bowed even though he was sitting, nearly knocking away the coffee cup. Then of course he turned pink with embarrassment and looked away, scratching at his neck.

Hyungwon saw all this and inside he felt a beast clawing at him, urging him to grab Hoseok’s face and kiss the _hell_ out of him. He didn’t know how much more cuteness he could take before he’d explode.

The same beast was also holding him back though, the reason sitting a few feet away from Hoseok, currently looking at Hyungwon with a smirk.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Hyungwon registered that it looked like Hoseok had agreed to his offer but the impending threat prevented him from going too deep into it.

“Oh it’s nothing, Hoseok dear.” His mother turned to Hoseok and smiled sweetly. “So you will be coming at 7 every morning?”

“For one month, as you said.” Hoseok nodded and grinned.

“Wonderful. I’m so happy to have found someone to clean up in the mornings. I was looking for help for quite some time, _wasn’t I_ , Hyungwon?”

Hyungwon gulped and gave a guilty smile.

_Another lie he’d told._

His mom hadn’t been looking for someone to help in the first place. Why would she when Kihyun left the place spotless every morning?

Now she always asked Hyungwon to clean up for a change but he never did, knowing that if he tried to help Kihyun, he would only come in his way.

His mother also always asked Kihyun to _not_ clean up for once but that little shit was the kind to feel uncomfortable for the rest of the day if he left any room looking like that. It was hard enough to stop him from cleaning after they closed up for the evening.

“I will make sure the store is impeccable!” Hoseok promised and Hyungwon’s eyes started scanning his exit options. He could pretend that they had a visitor and run out the door. He could pretend he was expecting mail.

He could pretend he had a bathroom emergency and-

“But Hoseok, I was thinking,”

_Fuckfuckfuck._

“This could be a good chance for Hyungwon to improve too.”

Hyungwon turned his wandering gaze back to his mother, feeling baffled. What had she come up with now?

Hoseok looked piqued too.

“I am worried that he’ll live like this even after he’s married.” His mother went on, gesturing towards him standing there, gaping at her like a monkey.

Hyungwon turned red in the cheeks and let out a mortified “Eomma”, unable to look in Hoseok’s direction.

Hoseok let out a confused chuckle and Hyungwon grit his teeth, hoping that that would be the end of his mother’s revenge.

But of course not.

“He really has to learn to clean up and be organised like his brother.”

_You’re comparing me to Kihyun? That’s low, mom._

“I didn’t know you had a brother, Hyungwon-ssi!” Hoseok said in amazement and Hyungwon met his eyes briefly.

He opened his mouth to correct the statement but Hyungwon’s mother went on speaking, stopping him.

“So I was thinking that this would be a good chance for him to learn a few things as well. Starting from tomorrow he will help you clean up the store. I hope you’re okay with that, dear?”

Hoseok replied but Hyungwon had already stopped listening, his mental self shaking it’s head in utter disbelief.

_This was his mother’s plan?_

He had misheard her, right? It was just too cruel to be true, right?

When he zoned back in Hoseok was on his feet, thanking his mother for the coffee. He couldn’t do much more than to observe their interaction, feeling like he was watching from miles away. He had never been more speechless in his life.

“Thank you so much for the coffee and for the job. I will work hard.”

“Alright, dear. Don’t forget to drop by later for the pendant.”

“Yes.” Hoseok said and bowed once more. “I’ll see you tomorrow at seven, Hyungwon-ssi. You can show me the ropes!”

With that Hoseok was gone and silence filled their house.

“What have you done?” Hyungwon asked his mother as she re-entered the kitchen, having had walked Hoseok out.

“Stop being so dramatic, Wonnie.”

“How could you do this to me? There are so many ways of taking revenge-“

“This isn’t revenge, what do you think I am a petty teenager?” Hyungwon’s mother asked innocently.

“Eomma! Did you and Kihyun come up with this scheme?”

His mother turned her back to him, moving things around making the kitchen neater than was required.

“Answer me, please. Should I be making a stop at his campus to strangle him?”

She organised things a bit more before facing him. “Kihyun doesn’t know about this.” She said finally and walked out into the living room, arranging things there next.

Hyungwon followed her. “He has a girlfriend and you know this! If this is your way of setting us up-“

“Don’t be silly, Wonnie. If I wanted to set you up I’d set you up on a date with him, not ask you to clean up the store with him. I’m just trying to make you realise the importance of cleaning up.”

“You must really hate me.”

“Not at all, darling. This will also be a good chance for you to become healthier-“

“You want me to wake up at seven _every morning?_ ” Hyungwon wasn’t shouting at all.

“Yes and help Hoseok clean up. He can’t do it alone-”

“I don’t care, I won’t do it.” Hyungwon cut her off, shaking his head resolutely, folding his arms in front of him.

“Well then... Hoseok can’t have that pendant after all, poor thing.”

His mouth fell open.

“ _Mom.”_

“We’re selling it to him at 39,000 won but it’s worth 100,000... I guess I’ll have to call him up and tell him the original price.”

“MOM!”

“Of course, he can buy it if he has 100,000 but I guess it will be difficult. He is a student, after all and he-“

“FINE. Fine I’ll do it, happy?”

He couldn’t believe his mother. The ideas he had had about getting over Hoseok were laughing at him.

“Delighted.” His mother responded with a regular smile. “Now stop following me around and go get ready. You don’t wanna be late for class.”

_*_

 

Hoseok was so happy he could have danced on the road he was walking on. He couldn’t believe his fortune. Finally the pendant would be his! All he’d have to do was help clean up his second favourite shop for one month.

It was a win-win situation as far as he was concerned.

He turned at the street corner and smiled when he spotted the familiar ‘Momo Coffee’ sign in the distance.

And there it was, his favourite shop; his mom’s cafe.

After years of struggling to pay off debts his mother had finally made her dreams come true by opening her own cafe. It wasn’t a grand cafe that attracted a lot of customers but it was a cosy looking coffee shop where people could stop by and catch up, have some refreshing drinks or eat some warm, homemade food before going on their way.

They were still struggling, that was true. Some days were hard, some days were better. Some days they would have so many customers that they were short staffed and other days he would see his mother sit with her nose in her budget notebook, muttering about low returns. Even then, if his memories were to be trusted, his mother was happier today than _ever_ before.

Hoseok quickened his pace, plucking a rose from one of the rose bushes outside the cafe.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside, smiling as the smell of coffee, sugar and vanilla hit him. There was the low hum of music playing in the kitchen, made even more beautiful by the sound of his mother singing along as she worked, probably kneading dough for bread.

A deep voice drew his attention away from the kitchen. “Sorry! We’re not open yet- oh. Hoseok hyung, it’s you.”

Changkyun’s startled expression relaxed into a placid smile. “You’re up early.”

Hoseok smiled back and walked over to the cash counter, leaning over it to ruffle Changkyun’s hair. “So are you. Why did you come so early?”

“Eh, I was getting bored at home. I thought I’d come and read.” He said, lifting a book to show him.

“Nice. Mum’s in the kitchen?” He asked, even though he knew.

Changkyun nodded.

“You look positively radiant. Don’t tell me.. You got another gift for her?”

Hoseok grinned cheekily, bringing the single rose into view. “Just this rose for now.” He said.

 “Hyung, it’s not really a gift if you pluck it from the gift receiver’s garden.” Changkyun scoffed. “That’s stealing.” He added and smirked.

“It’s my garden too!” Hoseok protested weakly and Changkyun rolled his eyes, settling in comfortably in his chair, eyes back on the book.

“Hoseok-ah?”

Hoseok turned to the sound. “I’ll talk to you later.” He told Changkyun before making his way over to the kitchen.

The cafe was divided into three sections. The first being where the door and the cash counter were. Changkyun was usually to be found there, taking orders and money and giving receipts to customers. The second section was a long counter adjacent to the cash counter where drinks and food could be collected by the customers. The kitchen was behind this counter. The last and largest section was where they kept the tables and comfy chairs for customers to get settled into. They also had a book shelf in there, in case someone felt like reading.

If at all Changkyun wasn’t at the cash counter, he’d be by the bookshelf, browsing through the collection even though he knew it by heart.

Hoseok made his way to the kitchen and found his mother kneading dough as he’d expected, a bit of flour on her face. She was humming along to the music, which happened to be the latest song of some rookie girl group. Hoseok recognized the song so he sang along with her, even dancing a bit. That caught her attention.

She smiled warmly at him. “You’re back?”

 He walked over to her and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before holding out the rose for her.

“For you.” He told her with a grin.

She shook her head at him.

“Hoseok-ah, how many times have I asked you not to pluck those roses?”

She sounded exasperated but he knew that she kept a vase ready at all times. As soon as he left he knew she would fill up the vase with water and keep the rose he’d got in it. Then she would spend minutes in finding the perfect place to keep the vase, moving it a bunch of times till she was satisfied.

“Sorry.” He said like every time and she gave a resigned sigh.

He knew that sometimes she stopped in her work and looked at whichever flower he had got for her that day. He knew that it gave her strength when she was tired and helped relieve her fatigue and stress.

“How’s it going?” He asked her, picking up a cookie from the freshly baked batch and dodging as his mother made to hit him with a spoon.

“Keep that back! Eat breakfast like you’re supposed to.”

“I will, relax will you? One cookie can’t hurt me.” He chuckled, making her roll her eyes. “You didn’t answer me, by the way. All ready?”

“Almost. What time is it? Soo-ah isn’t here yet.” His mother craned her neck to take a look at the clock.

“You worry too much.” He told her. “Don’t worry so much, you’ll become old faster.”

She snorted at that. “My silly son, I’m going to grow old anyway.”

“Not if I can help it.” He said cheekily.

“Oh yes? What will you do, stop time?”

“Well, I could try to find a way but I have some other ideas if that doesn’t work out.”

“Like?” She teased.

“Well, I will make sure you worry less and stay healthy for one. I’ll also keep getting you things that make you happy so that you’re always smiling.” He added his own smile at that, causing his mother to laugh in amusement.

“The neighbourhood ladies keep telling me I’m lucky to have you for a son.” She said before taking another look at the clock.

“Relax, mother. Soo-ah noona comes by 8:30. Don’t get confused because Changkyun is here. He is jobless, that’s why he came early.”

He didn’t dodge the spoon in time and got hit on the shoulder.

 “Ow!” He protested, although it didn’t hurt.

“Stop talking about Changkyunie. Why are _you_ at home? Shouldn’t you be in college?”

“I’m going.” He told her sulkily. “You just want me to go so that you can gossip with Changkyun.”

“Of course, he has more useful things to tell me. Hurry along now.” With that his mother walked over to the oven, checking on whatever was in there.

Hoseok sighed dramatically. “I’m sure you tell the neighbourhood ladies that you wish Changkyun was your son.”

“And risk the wrath of his mother? She already thinks he spends too much time here.”

“Are you telling me you wish he was your son?” He demanded indignantly.

“Don’t be silly.”

“I’ll trust you for now, because I have to go. I have a surprise for you later, look forward to it.”

Her back was to him but he could tell she was smiling. “You dare not buy anything else. I have you, I don’t need anything else.”

He grinned but chose not to make any promises.

“Hoseok-ah.”

His mother’s sudden serious tone wiped his smile away.

“Hm?”

“Jieun called earlier. Call her back.” His mother said, twisting to face him.

“Jieunie? Oh well, okay. Thank you.”

“Take some cookies when you go to meet her. I hardly see that girl these days.”

“Well.. She’s a busy person. I have to go.” Hoseok mumbled before walking out the kitchen. “Bye eomma.” He called over his shoulder. “Bye Changkyunie, I’ll see you in the afternoon.”

“Bye hyung, get me chocolates.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Mean.”

_*_

Kihyun had managed to compose himself by the time the first lecture was over. He had sat beside Minhyuk as usual but he had ignored his presence completely. He had given the excuse that he needed to pay attention to the teacher to make heads or tails out of whatever he was talking about. Minhyuk had relented because he knew that Kihyun could not help him later if he understood nothing in the first place.

It had given him vindictive pleasure in watching Minhyuk pout at this treatment, sitting with his head on his arm, doodling on his book. The feeling had vanished pretty quickly though, when Minhyuk had started passing notes with a boy named Mark Tuan, who he was good friends with.

He headed to his second lecture with pretend enthusiasm, convincing himself that it was a good thing that Minhyuk didn’t have this lecture with him. He hadn’t bothered to say bye to Minhyuk as he’d left but he’d seen the confused look Minhyuk had given him as he’d rushed past him blindly.

A part of him felt embarrassed for his childish behaviour but the part of him which had been hurt by Minhyuk’s casual indifference reiterated that Minhyuk didn’t deserve Nice Kihyun. Grumpy Kihyun was too good for him, as a matter of fact.

Half way to his second lecture he realised that he had confused his schedule. He didn’t have Civil Procedure on Tuesdays.

In fact, he had no other classes today.

_That explains why Minhyuk looked confused.._

Kihyun stopped where he was (a corridor on the first floor) and looked around. He didn’t even know how far he’d come, just walking furiously. Where exactly was he?

He exhaled loudly and tried to get a hold of himself. Right, he would go home. Maybe grab some coffee on the way.

He closed his eyes and nodded to himself. Coffee would help. A film would be even better. He could forget if he went and saw a film. Or better yet, he could just go to Hyungwon’s campus and bother him.

Hyungwon could give him an insight into this whole situation.

He tried to forget everything but his mind kept showing him flashes of last night- walking back home, Minhyuk occasionally bumping against him, his pleasant too-loud laugh in the intoxicating air, filled with the scent of night flowers and street food.

_You imagined it, Kihyun. Minhyuk didn’t linger behind for a kiss. He didn’t hold your face. He didn’t stare at your lips. He didn’t lean in or-_

“Kihyun?”

Kihyun’s eyes shot open in surprise. It was Min Yoongi, a friend from high school. He hadn’t met him since they had sat for the exams together.

“Yoongi? It’s been years. You go here?”

“No but a friend does. I’d come to visit him.” Yoongi responded with a relaxed smile. “What about you?”

“Yup, I study here.” Kihyun replied, lifting his student ID and smiling back.

“Hey, you want to grab a coffee or something? You look like you need it.” Yoongi suggested with a raise of his eyebrow.

Kihyun bit his lip in contemplation.

_Hyungwon has classes anyway.. Just go. It’s been some time since you hung out anyway._

“I do need a coffee.” He admitted. “Or something stronger.”

Yoongi grinned. “There’s the Kihyun I know. Come on, then. I know where to go.”

Kihyun pulled his bag closer to him and nodded.

Minhyuk was with Mark anyway. He wouldn’t miss him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys figured things out sooner than I was expecting XD Let me know in the comments if you saw this coming or not :') Feel free to tell me what you thought of this chapter, criticise (constructively) :P <3


	3. Player?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guess who didn't die? *Guilty smile. I'm sure many of you dear ppl stopped reading because of how long I took! I'm really sorry, had exams :( I have my Korean exam tomorrow haha (help me) but it had been way too long so I decided to update!   
> If you're still here <3 Thank you.  
> ALSO CAN I JUST SAY?!?! From Zero Instrumental version. Hyungwonho in Paris, being all coupley.   
> I died. I'm not even embarrassed that I fangirled so much.   
> (More on this in the end notes, I don't wanna be annoying)   
> P.S. There's a lot of images in this update!

“And then? What did he say when your father opened the door?” Yoongi asked.

Kihyun rolled his eyes and smiled. “He spoke nonstop! He didn’t even pause to breathe.”

_Hello ahjussi, good morning, are you new here, do you have any kids? Is there anyone I can play with? It’s okay if you have a daughter but if you have a son it will be better! Ahjussi, do you have a son? Can you call him out?_

“He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Then he noticed me and dragged me out. I’m trying not to be dramatic but it felt like the sun had barrelled into my life.”

Yoongi chuckled. “Sounds like someone I know.” He said.

“Your boyfriend?” Kihyun smirked. “Jung Hoseok, am I right?”

Yoongi blushed in response but chose to take a sip of his coffee instead of answering him. “Knowing you, you probably found him a nuisance.”

“A big one.” Kihyun agreed. “I’d never met anyone like him before. The friends I’d had earlier were.. Not so hyperactive.”

 “What did you two do then?”

Kihyun made a subtle ‘hmm,’ trying to look like he didn’t remember well. “I think we went looking for crocodiles.”

“ _Crocodiles_? In Seoul?”

“There was this stream nearby.”

“A _stream?_ ”

“Alright, alright we were twelve and admittedly not the smartest boys in town.” Kihyun laughed.

“You don’t say.”

Kihyun smiled into his cup of iced Americano, moving side to side in his rotating chair. He wondered if Minhyuk was still with Mark. Mark had other classes though, surely? Minhyuk had probably gone home, right?

“So what the hell did he do?” Yoongi asked. He stretched and placed his empty cup beside a couple of scribbling pads. Kihyun could see scratched lyrics on the one at the top.

“Huh?” He replied belatedly, meeting Yoongi’s eyes again.

“What did he do to make you like this?” Yoongi elaborated. “Why did I run into you looking like you were having the worst day of your life?”

Kihyun chuckled humourlessly. “Eh not the worst by far. Pretty bad though.”

“What did he do?”

Kihyun suddenly felt stupid all over again. Maybe it had been a bad idea to talk about Minhyuk. Why couldn’t he have kept it all to himself instead of blurting it all out to someone he hadn’t spoken to in years?

“Nothing, I just.. Read too much into his actions and got my hopes up.” He mumbled.

Yoongi sighed so loudly, it was almost as if he had sighed on Kihyun’s behalf too.

“What?” He asked indignantly, looking away from Yoongi’s judgemental eyes, playing with the frayed threads of his ripped jeans.

“This is bad.”

“It’s not so bad, I’m not like, desperate-“

“This is terrible. You’re too much like how I was.” Yoongi said, shaking his head.

Kihyun’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Look.. When Hoseok used to go out of his way to spend time with me, I told myself that he was doing that because I was his best friend. I told myself that he probably did the same with everyone.”

“And?”

“And I wasted so much time trying to convince myself that I was right that I ignored all the signs until they had kicked me in the knees. Are you sure you’re not doing the same?” Yoongi asked.

 “Pretty sure I’m not. I mean, last night I felt I might be mistaken but Minhyuk proved me right today by behaving like he always does.”

“Well, if that’s the case then I think you have just two options left. Keep your silence and continue to live like this or confess and-“

“And drive him away?” He interrupted with a sceptical raise of his eyebrow. “I’ve known him for over ten years, Yoongi. If he gets weirded out by my feelings and decides to walk out of my life-” Kihyun cut off, unable to complete the sentence.

Life without Minhyuk barging into their house at random times with academic doubts? Life without Minhyuk’s unnecessary enthusiasm?

“That would require some major adjustment.” Yoongi agreed. “But what if he returns your feelings?”

Kihyun frowned.

“For one, foolish moment last night I considered it... For the first time I considered the possibility that he might feel the same. That Minhyuk, who’s always been popular with everyone, who’s gone from crushing on one person to the next, who I know better than anyone- might actually like me back.

“But I was wrong. Nothing happened. The foolish moment passed and today he acted the same way he always does. For all I know I got turned down.”

“I don’t know what you’ll think of this. Namjoon, one of my friends had the most pathetic crush on Seokjin hyung. One day he goes and confesses to hyung who easily rejects him, saying he’s never seen him as a romantic interest. Four months later, when Joon was on the brink of getting over hyung, he got a call from hyung asking if they could meet up and guess what happened?”

Kihyun snorted at the cheesiness. “He suddenly returned his feelings? That’s great for them but life isn’t a fairy tale and you know that better than anyone.”

“I can’t believe that _I_ am saying this but slow down Mr. Cynical. Let me finish... Seokjin hyung told Joon that he’d never seen him as anything more than a friend but once he’d let his feelings be known, hyung predictably began to see him differently. He realized that there had been times when his feelings about Namjoon hadn’t been as platonic as he’d believed.” Yoongi finished.

Kihyun took a moment to process Yoongi’s words.

“I get what you’re saying. I’m trying not to be dismissive but I really doubt that Minhyuk would change how he sees me. If last night can’t change him, nothing can.”

Yoongi looked as helpless as he felt. Finally he shook his head and smiled. “You know what; Iced Americano is no good for this. We need to get some alcohol into you.”

Kihyun smiled. “Trust me I’d love nothing more.” He mumbled, sweeping the hair out of his eyes.

“Noon’s too early for you to drink?” Yoongi questioned and Kihyun laughed.

“Speak for yourself, Mr. Lightweight.”

“Why do you still remember that?” Yoongi grumbled.

“Oh come on, I’m pretty sure the whole class remembers the time when you threw up after just-”

“Get out of my studio.”

Kihyun just laughed and finished the rest of his Americano.

Yoongi’s phone started ringing. “I’ll be right back, I have a call from Hoseok.” He said somewhat shyly before slipping out of the door.

Kihyun pulled out his own phone and saw that he had several text messages. He unlocked his phone and opened his chat with Hyungwon.

 

Minhyuk had messaged him?

He hit the back button and saw that he had a message from Minhyuk as well.

 

Kihyun’s mouth fell open in surprise. Minhyuk had gone as far as to send him a selca? He stared at the photo and debated screaming.

Also, how was he supposed to reply? Should he reply at all?

His phone buzzed as it received another message from Hyungwon.

 

 

Kihyun locked his phone with a sigh and looked up as Yoongi walked back in.

“Hoseok wants me to help him pick an outfit for his cousin’s wedding.” He said.

“That’s cool, I was leaving anyway.” Kihyun replied, getting up and picking his bag off the floor.

“Keep me updated on whatever happens with you and Minhyuk.” Yoongi said with a small smile.

“Yes, I will and I’m going to take you up on that drink offer one of these days.” Kihyun said with a grin.

“Please do, I could use one too. I’m really glad that you told me .. All this.”

Kihyun bit his lip. It’s only Yoongi; he had no reason to regret this, right? “Thank you for listening. The studio is great, by the way.”

“It’s not perfect, I guess.” Yoongi mumbled with a smile. Kihyun could tell from his expression though that for him, it was.

He grinned and walked out of the door. “I’ll text you later then, bye.”

“Yup. Go home safe!”

They had exchanged numbers earlier, not wanting to lose contact again.

Kihyun took the stairs down and exited onto the main street. He found the nearest bus stop and sat on the bench, looking around himself briefly. There were a lot of people around, probably on their way to work.

He realised he hadn’t replied to Hyungwon. He pulled out his phone to see that he had another message from him. He typed out his reply carefully.

Finally a bus going to his bus stop arrived. He got behind the line of people waiting to climb in. Once he’d seated himself he opened his chat with Minhyuk again and sighed softly at the new messages.

 

 

Kihyun tried not to smile.

He really did.

God, how pathetic was he? It was so stupid.

It really was.

He was going to contain his smile now.

 

 Whatever mood boost he had momentarily gained vanished by the time he got home.

He’d told Hyungwon that he was going to play Overwatch but he wasn’t stupid enough to do so without Minhyuk.

He couldn’t die just yet.

He entered through the back instead of entering through the shop, which was open for business and made his way up to the bedroom to drop off his bag. He was pleased to see that Hyungwon had cleaned up a bit. He put his bag on his desk and cleaned up the rest, singing softly.

His phone buzzed again, reminding him that it needed to be charged. He picked it up from his bed and opened his chat with Hyungwon.

 

 

Kihyun opened the screenshots and read them.

 

_Dammit, Kihyun. Stop grinning like a fool._

“Kihyun-ah?”

Kihyun jumped at the sound of Mrs. Kim’s voice coming from downstairs.

“I’m coming, mum!” He answered, quickly sending Hyungwon a text and connecting his phone to the charger before going downstairs.

_*_

Hyungwon hated Tuesdays. Apart from the fact that Tuesdays meant that the week had only just begun, it also meant that Kihyun had just one class whereas he had to sit through an entire day’s worth of classes.

He’d been texting Kihyun and Minhyuk throughout all his classes though. He knew he should feel guilty but he didn’t. He wasn’t going to bother paying attention when all he could think of was the upcoming morning.

Which he was dreading.

Totally.

He _did_ have to be up at seven, which was hell enough but he also had to clean up the store.

With Hoseok.

He wasn’t looking forward to it. Nope.

No, he was just fantasizing about how Hoseok’s gorgeous arms would look as he reached out to dust one of the top shelves. Since he was taller than Hoseok, maybe he could give Hoseok a hand.

He had a beautiful image in mind.

He could imagine the morning light entering through the windows and lighting up Hoseok’s purple hair. He probably smiled as he worked.

No, Hoseok was the probably the type to hum some song to himself as he worked!

Hyungwon quickly glanced around to make sure no one had seen him. They’d surely wonder what the hell was wrong with him if they had. His ear tips had turned red and it had nothing to do with the cold.

He was currently sitting on a bench outside one of the department buildings, listening to music to while away the time before his next class. Honestly though, he had no idea what song he was listening to. He didn’t care. He checked his phone, replied to Kihyun and put on the next song.

He smiled, replaying the way Hoseok had smiled at him as he’d left. Even through his shock he’d blankly noticed Hoseok’s sweet departing smile.

He really liked Hoseok’s smile.

It was still hard to accept that he would be seeing that smile every morning from now on.

To top it off, Hoseok had asked Hyungwon to show him the ropes for cleaning the shop. Right, Hyungwon had better ask Kihyun to show him the ropes first!

The sudden appearance of his friend Hyunwoo caused him to jump and drop his bag, spilling its contents. He took out his earphones and whined at Hyunwoo. “Hyung!”

Son Hyunwoo was his senior. They’d met a few months ago during one of the guest-lectures being held in college. Both had been a part of the volunteering team whose job was to make sure that everything related to the function ran smoothly.

They had ended up meeting frequently because of meetings and had somehow begun to talk.

Hyunwoo was a tall, well-built guy, whose appearance often gave people the impression that he was a serious person with little humour. In the few months that Hyungwon had known him, however, he’d realised that Hyunwoo’s appearance was misleading. He was a teddy bear under all his muscles and strength.

“Did I startle you?” Hyunwoo looked concerned at once. “Sorry! What were you doing though? I saw you from there, smiling to yourself.”

Hyungwon pouted and got on his knees to pick up his stuff. Hyunwoo was already there, picking up his things. His eraser had somehow skipped over to a rose bush.  

“Nothing.. I was just. Thinking.” He said finally, when he’d managed to gather all his belongings and retaken his place.

Hyunwoo sat down on the bench beside him and raised his eyebrow at him. “About that guy you like? What was his name again?”

Hyungwon flushed. “I wasn’t! And it’s none of your business-“

“Kihyun had texted me his name. Where did it go?”

Hyungwon watched, baffled, as Hyunwoo scrolled through his messages.

Did that mean what he thought it did?

“Wait a minute,” Hyungwon narrowed his eyes “Since when did you and Kihyun get on texting terms?” He questioned.

“We’ve been sending each other messages for ages, Hyungwon-ah.” Hyunwoo replied, barely paying attention to him. “There! Hoseok, isn’t it?”

Hyungwon ignored the question. “You had to scroll quite a bit to find it.”

“Huh? I guess I did. Kihyun mentioned it long back.”

Long back? The two of them hadn’t even known each other longer than three months.

 “How much do you and Ki talk? What do you talk about?”

Hyunwoo smiled. “Investigating me? We talk about you, mostly.”

Hyungwon narrowed his eyes. “Mostly? I highly doubt that. Kihyun already has a bunch of ahjumma-like friends to go to if he wants to complain about me. He can go and complain to my mother if he wants. Why would he complain to someone he barely knows?”

Hyunwoo sighed and shook his head at Hyungwon. “You’re so overprotective of him.”

“How is this being overprotective? I just want to know why Kihyun talks about me to _you._ ”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you talk about me?”

“I thought you’d assumed he complains about you?”

Hyungwon huffed. “Don’t beat about the bush. Answer me. What is it that you guys discuss?”

“Go ask him. I’m getting late for class.” With that Hyunwoo got up and waved, smiling.

“You’re avoiding questions.” Hyungwon said. “Something is weird.”

“You’re coming for that party on Sunday, right?” Hyunwoo asked as he moved away.

“No?” Hyungwon said confusedly.

“Kihyun said you would.”

“You talk about parties with him then? What is going on here, give me answers!”

“I’ll see you on Sunday then.”

“He doesn’t decide for me!”

“Wear something nice.”

Hyungwon could only shake his head.

_*_

“Hyung, why are all the curtains closed?”

The living room curtains were opened and daylight and warmth streamed in and on his back.

“Minhyuk hyung. What are you doing? Get up.”

Minhyuk felt hands on his shoulder.

“Hyuuuung?”

He had been lying face down on the couch in peace. His peace was at an end it seemed. He sat up and glared at the person who had disturbed him.

“What?” He snapped at his younger brother. It was rare for him to get mad at his brother. They usually got along really well and no one was fonder of his brother than Minhyuk was but he was feeling close to shitty right now so he didn’t care about being nice.

Minhyuk was usually so energetic and upbeat that people forgot that he was just a regular human being. He could get angry and sad just like them. He could be in a bad mood just like them.

Thankfully his brother was one of the few people who got that.

Minhyuk continued to glare at his brother as he moved his bag off the couch to make space for himself.

“Your hair is a mess.” Was the first thing Jooheon said and it did nothing to improve Minhyuk’s temper.

“Jooheon, I swear to god if you woke me up to say this I’ll-“

“I thought your date with Kihyun hyung went okay?”

Minhyuk was quiet for a moment before he spoke up, an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. “Henceforth, don’t take that traitor’s name in this house.”

Jooheon decided to wait out his brother’s dramatics. He simply raised his eyebrow. Sure enough Minhyuk continued.

“First of all it wasn’t a date and second, I don’t want to talk about him. I’m going to erase him this second.”

“What did hyung do to-?”

“That piece of shit went on another date! The next morning! He didn’t even wait twenty four hours-“

“I thought it wasn’t a date?”

“Before going for coffee with someone named _Yoongi_.”

“They could just be friends, hyung.” Jooheon reasoned.

“Nonsense. I saw the way Kihyun was smiling as they left. It was that stupid smirky smile he wears when he-”

“Hyung you just said the traitor’s name.”

“Jooheon. Do you want to die? Don’t make me kill you.” Minhyuk warned and immediately received a bunch of cute actions in response. He fought the oncoming smile before continuing. “Even Hyungwon doesn’t know him, which means Ki kept it a secret from both of us. He has like- two friends and both of us don’t know this guy. Why did Ki not tell us? Why was he being weird today? Who is that guy? Why did he suddenly come to meet Kihyun?”

“Hyung, hyung, hyung. Stop.” Jooheon held up his hands, gesturing for him to slow down. “You have too many issues. Pick one and let’s address it first.” Jooheon said.

“Jooheon-ah. You’re so smart, come here. I’m so lucky to have you as a brother-” Minhyuk pulled Jooheon to him to cuddle him.

“Hyung- I can’t breathe!”

Minhyuk let go. “Yoongi.” He said promptly. “I want to know who he is.”

Jooheon sighed and pulled out his phone. “Did you try to Naver search him?”

“..I don’t even know his family name, Jooheon. There’s thousands of people named Yoongi in this country.”

“Try asking hyung while I search.”

“I’m assuming you mean Hyungwon because I’m not going to speak to that traitorous piece of-“

“Yes, whoever.”

Minhyuk opened his chat with Hyungwon and quickly sent him a text. Moments later Hyungwon replied.

 

“Min. It’s Min Yoongi.” Minhyuk said but when he looked up, he saw Jooheon staring at his phone with big eyes.

“We didn’t need his family name after all. Hyung, Kihyun hyung has a really good taste.”

“Excuse me? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Did you say you want to be kicked out of this house?”

“Look at this!”

Jooheon thrust his phone in Minhyuk’s face. He moved back hastily and frowned at what looked like an Instagram post.

 

Jooheon took his phone back after he’d seen the post, now scrolling through Yoongi’s instagram with heart eyes.

“What, he’s some musician?”

“ _Some musician?_ Hyung, he’s Min Suga- one of the best rappers in our country. I had no idea his name was Min Yoongi. How on earth does Kihyun hyung know him?”

Minhyuk rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be here if I knew.”

“Changkyun is going to be so impressed. He’ll finally give you his consent to date Kihyun hyung.” Jooheon went on, not even looking away from his phone screen.

Minhyuk scoffed in disbelief. “Okay first of all, I never needed Changkyun’s consent to date Ki- anyone. I mean, he’s a baby. Besides, he doesn’t even know Kihyun! How does that make sense?”

“I don’t know, go ask him. Hyung, if you’re done being mad at Kihyun hyung can I go and ask him about Yoongi-nim?”

“I’m not done being- wait a minute- Jooheon- HYA! Where are you going?”

“To the cafe where Changkyun works!”

And before Minhyuk could get another word in Jooheon had disappeared. He huffed to himself and pouted.

Why had Kihyun never mentioned that he knew some famous rapper?

He didn’t even mention that he was going to meet someone today.

Did he like him, by any chance?

Is that why he had stopped Minhyuk from kissing him?

_*_

“I’m home.” Hyungwon announced as he walked in through the door. He could hear his mother haggling with some customer outside in the shop.

He grabbed an apple from the kitchen before closing the back door and making his way up the stairs to his and Kihyun’s room.

He found Kihyun at his study table, neatly taking notes as he watched some video on his laptop.

“You’re home.” Kihyun said, not looking away from the screen.

“How do you even manage to read that?” He asked Kihyun, nodding at his notes. His handwriting was tiny. Looking at the black and white notes made his head spin so he turned away. He bit into the apple he’d brought and almost moaned at its sweetness.

“What do you mean? It’s my own handwriting, of course I can read it.” Kihyun said and put down his pen, turning his chair around to face Hyungwon. “Did you wash your hands?”

“Yes.” Hyungwon lied. When had he washed his hands? He couldn’t remember. He tried to subtly wipe them on his jeans but gave up when he caught Kihyun rolling his eyes at him. So he set his bag down on his study table and finished his apple, throwing away the remains.

 He walked over to his bed and sat down crossed leg with his elbow on his knee and cheek against his palm. “So.” He said simply.

Kihyun tried not to smile. “Mrs. Kim told me what all happened this morning.”

Hyungwon groaned and leaned back on his hands. “Can you believe it? Did she tell you how she’s making me wake up at seven every morning?”

“Won, you idiot. You have to be up by 6:45. Seven is when Hoseok-ssi is coming over.”

Hyungwon opened his mouth and closed it. Realization dawned upon him finally. Why on earth had he been assuming seven?

_Be positive, Hyungwon. It’s okay._

_You can do 6:45._

_In return you get to spend time with-_

“Should I run away? Frankly I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Kihyun laughed at his misery. “Go to bed early and you’ll be fine.”

Hyungwon looked out the window. “Death is near.” He said.

“Actually I was surprised to hear you didn’t put up a fight.” Kihyun got up and sat down on his own bed.

Hyungwon turned around to face him.“She threatened to tell him the price of the pendant.” He explained sulkily.

“Ah... Figures. So, what now?”

“What now? I have to help clean, haven’t I? It’s not like I can let him do it alone.”

“I don’t care about that, Chae. Are you going to make a move on him or not?”

Hyungwon flushed. “Did mum put you up to this? How many times do I have to say that I won’t steal someone’s-“

“Hyungwon, listen to me.” Kihyun interrupted. “You’ll never know if you don’t try. If you try, who knows? Something good might come out of it.” Yoongi’s words had impacted him more than he’d realized.

“Nothing good comes out of taking away someone else’s-“

“If nothing good comes out of it... That’s okay too. It’s okay to be rejected. People get rejected all the time. They manage to move on. You’ll find someone else. There are so many other people.”

Hyungwon raised his eyebrows sceptically. “Are we still talking about me?”

“Of course we are.” Kihyun narrowed his eyes. “I’m just saying that if things don’t work out there’s always that party on Sunday. I’m sure a lot of people will be coming-“

“Like your friend Yoongi?” Hyungwon interrupted with a smirk. “Or _Hyunwoo hyung?_ ”

“What’s with the emphasis?” Kihyun asked. “Hyunwoo hyung is hosting the party. He’s obviously going to be there. I could ask Yoongi, though. It’s not a bad idea-“

“Okay hold up, there’s so much I have to say.” Hyungwon interrupted. “I get that you’re mad at Minhyuk but there’s no need to break his heart.”

“What does Minhyuk have to do with this?”

“Um, who do you think you’re trying to fool? Is that why you want to invite Yoongi?”

“You’re the one who suggested I should!”

“I didn’t suggest anything-“

“Fine.” Kihyun rolled his eyes. “You didn’t suggest it but it was a good idea. Yoongi and I were planning on meeting up again later anyway. Why not at the party? Hyunwoo hyung wouldn’t mind if I invited Yoongi. I could just text and-“

Hyungwon reached out and plucked Kihyun’s phone from his hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kihyun demanded.

“I’m trying to make sense of things.”

“What’s there to make sense of?”

He could sense that Kihyun was getting impatient.

“I’m trying to figure out since when have you been a player.”

“What are you even talking about? Give me my phone back-” Kihyun stood up and so did he, holding the phone high up above his head. “You do love Minhyuk, right?” He questioned.

“What the fuck? Give my phone back before I-“

“Just hold on, hamster. I need to get this straight. Just answer my questions and you can have your phone back.”

Kihyun’s face was practically red but he remained where he was and glared at him. “What?” He snapped.

“Who is Yoongi? I want some details.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes but answered him.“A childhood friend. Our fathers were friends so we hung out a lot when we were younger. We went to the same high school too. He moved back to his hometown after high school and that’s how we lost touch. Done?”

“How did you reconnect?”

Kihyun practically growled. “He had to visit a friend who goes to the same university. I ran into him when I was leaving class. Are you satisfied now? How is this even important? Give me my phone back, Chae, I’m warning you.”

“Did you ever date him?”

Kihyun’s angry expression morphed into disbelief.

“ _What?_ ”

“I’m taking that as a no. Does he like you?” Hyungwon went on, making sure to keep Kihyun’s phone out of his reach.

“Oh my god, did Minhyuk ask you to do this? Have you lost it? Yoongi has been in a steady relationship for years. We’ve never been romantically involved.”

“Okay, next.”

“Hyungwon I want my phone back right now.”

“Just one more question, I promise. What is Hyunwoo hyung to you?”

“What does Hyunwoo hyung have to do with this, now?”

Hyungwon kept his silence.

Kihyun let out a breath of frustration. “He’s a good friend, okay?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were texting him?”

“Why, do you like him? Are you jealous?”

“No, do _you_ like him _?_ ”

Kihyun started muttering to himself about childish people and about murdering Hyungwon.

“Listen, beanpole. Hyunwoo hyung and I happen to get along well. I don’t like everyone I get along with. I don’t like everyone I text. We just happen to be similar and enjoy talking. And to answer your question from earlier, _yes._ I do love Minhyuk, even if he doesn’t feel that way about me.”

Hyungwon nodded slowly before handing Kihyun’s phone back to him. Kihyun snatched it out of his hand before stamping on his foot.

“Ouch, you fucking-“

“You deserve it; don’t even try to convince me otherwise.”

Hyungwon held his foot and glared at Kihyun but didn’t complain otherwise.

With that they started to do their own work, not wanting to interact for some time. They still had a lot to discuss though so Kihyun gave in.

“Why would you think I’m a player anyway?” He asked, eyes fixed on his book. What on earth did Hyungwon have in mind?

“I must have lost my mind.” Hyungwon answered. “I overestimated your skills-“

“Do you want to die?”

“Anyway, is that why you want to go to that party? To forget Minhyuk?”

Kihyun looked embarrassed. “Something like that.”

“That’s great. Why do I have to come along?”

“You’re my sidekick.”

“Oh let me guess. Minhyuk is coming too.” He deadpanned.

Kihyun’s lack of response confirmed his suspicion.

“If you want to avoid him you can just not go.”

“I can’t. I promised Hyunwoo hyung I would go. He’s worried nobody will turn up and his party will be a flop.”

“I don’t know what ideas he has about you but surely he knows that you going for the party isn’t going to prevent it from becoming a flop?”

“Oh shut up. We are going and it is final.”

Hyungwon groaned and flopped down onto his pillow, face-first. “It’s on a _Sunday_. I have to be up at 6:45 the next morning! I thought you cared about morning classes.”

“I do but I gave my word. This discussion is over, Won. Come on, I need to show you what dusting is. Get up.”

Hyungwon could have cried.

Instead he got up and shuffled downstairs after Kihyun, feeling sure that this party was a bad idea. He could just tell.

They went downstairs and had lunch before Kihyun took him over the basics of cleaning. He tried to take in whatever Kihyun was saying but his mind kept wandering over to Hyunwoo.

You may see him as just a friend, Ki but what about him? Does he see you as just a friend too?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANYWAY, I was saying. The part where Hyungwon is reading something and he looks up and smiles? That was beautiful. Who is Yoo Kihyun, folks? I don't know him. It was so damn good!! Paris was beautiful and those two were just so cute! That pushed me to update tbh! And the fact that some of you might have been waiting patiently!   
> To top it off Hixtape came out and I just-   
> I'm not satisfied with the update but I hope you guys like it! Have a nice day :D


	4. Hyung?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS >.< I didn't die!!! Thank you for being so, so patient and wonderful. My exams are over, which means I will work twice as hard on this fic. I'm sorry it took so long, I didn't want to publish something half-assed.

For the first time in his life, Hyungwon woke up before his alarm could wake him. He turned over with a groan and reached out for his phone in the semi-darkness. The bright light of his phone screen caused him to wince and close his eyes at once. When he finally managed to stare at it long enough to deduce the time (with his eyes watering) he let out a scoff of disbelief.

_6:04 am._

He turned to look at the other bed and wasn’t surprised to see Kihyun’s bed empty. He was probably in the bathroom, getting ready to go to college. Hyungwon didn’t understand why Kihyun spent so much time in the bathroom, particularly on days he had to get up early. With such little sleep, it was no wonder that he was always a grumpy piece of shit.

Hyungwon yawned and turned onto his stomach, mind running with calculations. He had fallen asleep by 12:15 so he had got (less than) around six hours of sleep. Six hours was okay, he could pay attention in minimum 3 classes on six hours. If he snuck in a nap between Organizational Behaviour and Management Consulting, he could pay attention in another class. That was good.

It was after he’d calculated that piece of information that it struck him as rather odd. Since when had he started calculating how much sleep he’d got before he’d got it?

He checked his phone once more and felt a wave of happiness. It was only 6:06! He didn’t have to get out of bed till 7.

_Yaas, Hyungwon, let’s go for five classes-_

All of a sudden he felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on him.

Today was the first day of his cleaning session with Hoseok-ssi.

“Fuck no.” He wailed into his pillow.

“What was that?”

He whipped around to see Kihyun standing in the room half dressed, with water dripping onto his shoulders from his wet hair.

“Fuck no.” Hyungwon repeated and banged his head on the pillow.

Five minutes later he dragged himself out of bed and into the washroom, his heartbeat a dull but loud thud against his chest. He almost slipped on some water on his way to the shower and considered going out and murdering Kihyun before he could finish his breakfast. In the end he gave up and went to take a shower. He washed his hair with Kihyun’s shampoo as revenge.

He came downstairs at ten minutes to seven and found Kihyun drinking tea at the table, going through a news app on his phone.

“Do you want some?”

He was too tired to do more than nod.

After a lot of internal debate, he’d put on an old pair of sweats and a black shirt that fit him well.

He’d considered dressing better at the risk of looking desperate, but cleaning was a dirty affair and his favourite white hoodie was too precious to be sacrificed.  

Kihyun placed a tea coaster in front of him before keeping a mug of steaming green tea on in. All of a sudden he felt Kihyun’s nose inches away from his hair and saw him pull away and narrow his eyes. He stared back with a resigned expression.

“You used my shampoo.”

Kihyun’s shampoo smelled of strawberries. He didn’t particularly like them but something told him Hoseok would.

“Leave me alone, bully. I’m a poor-“

“Desperate man.” Kihyun interrupted and to Hyungwon’s amazement, ruffled his hair.

“You just ruined my hairdo.”

“This _nest_?”

“Go to class.”

Kihyun’s playful grin vanished at that. Instead of retaliating like he usually would have, he bit his lip and sat back down in his chair. “I don’t want to.” He said after a moment, playing with the lacy ends of the table cloth.

“Then why the fuck did you get out of bed? Should have slept more.” Hyungwon replied. When he saw that Kihyun was serious, though, he huffed. “Ki..”

“Should I just go late? That way I won’t have to go on the same bus.”

Hyungwon snorted at the idea. “You’re too proud to do that.”

“I just might.”

“And risk losing your reputation as the most sincere, punctual, number one student-“

“Shut up.”

“Or more importantly, risk looking like a coward in front of Minhyuk? We both know you won’t do that.”

Kihyun groaned in response but stood up and grabbed his bag. He lingered a bit in the doorway, pretending to look for something. When he met Hyungwon’s judgemental eyes he pouted.

Hyungwon sipped on his tea and hummed contentedly. “Look, you don’t have to worry about talking to Minhyuk. I’m sure he’s mad at you.” 

“You think I don’t know that? God, he’s so annoying. How can he get mad at me when I’m mad at him? How am I supposed to be mad then?”

“Then don’t be mad. Look, I’m not sure what happened cause you haven’t been clear,” Hyungwon paused to make Kihyun feel guilty. “But you’re not going to get anywhere if you continue to be angry. You know how Minhyuk gets when he’s jealous. He’ll make your life miserable so just-“

Kihyun interrupted him. “Act like it never happened? I was going to do that anyway.”

The doorbell tinkled pleasantly and Hyungwon’s response died on his tongue.

 “Hyungwon-ssi?” a soft voice called out.

“Oh.” Hyungwon sat motionless with his lips parted.

“I unlocked the shop door in case you stayed asleep and Hoseok-ssi turned up. What are you doing? Go outside.” Kihyun nudged him.

“Oh. Yes.” Hyungwon said and got up, feeling too tall and wobbly.

“Hyungwon-ssi, is that you?”

“Co-coming!” His voice cracked attractively. Kihyun looked like his birthday had come early.

Hyungwon forced his legs to move and take him to the glass door. He took a quick breath before opening the door and found Hoseok standing in the room with his hands stuffed awkwardly in his pockets. He was wearing black track pants and an orange long-sleeved shirt. The sunlight coming in from the window fell on top of his head and made his red hair look like fire.

Red hair?

“Uh.” Hyungwon said intelligently.

Kihyun entered behind him and Hyungwon watched him approach Hoseok with a mug of tea. _Is that my tea?_ He wondered to himself before returning his gaze to Hoseok’s fiery hair.  

“You dyed your hair red!” Kihyun stated the obvious with a grin. Hoseok’s pale cheeks heated up.

“I did.” He said. He started to pat his hair nervously as if to check that it was still there.

Hyungwon stared blankly as Kihyun mouthed something over and over again.

_Tell him it looks good, you pathetic excuse for a-_

Hyungwon’s eyes widened and he started to mouth back _no way_ before he noticed that Hoseok looked rather small, standing there awkwardly.

“It-”He cleared his throat to make sure his voice wouldn’t crack again “It looks good, Hoseok-ssi. It uh suits you.”

His own cheeks heated up at that and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Kihyun’s proud, motherly smile.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Kihyun added.

“Oh, does it?” Hoseok asked worriedly, big eyes going back and forth between him and Kihyun before a relieved smile appeared on his face. “Thank you, I’ve never dyed my hair to such a vibrant colour before.”

Kihyun grinned before turning to Hyungwon. “The cleaning supplies are in the cupboard below the sink and the broom closet. I should get going.. It’s going to be a long day.”

Hyungwon couldn’t agree more. He glanced at Hoseok saying a cheerful goodbye to Kihyun and cried internally.

Here I come, cleaning supplies.

_*_

“But Minhyuk hyung,” Jooheon whined “This doesn’t even make sense! Even if I come with you to the bus stop, you have to go to college alone. I can’t come with you.”

“Can’t you, Joohoney? Just once-“ Minhyuk used his cutest voice.

“No, hyung, you know I have class too. Besides, you have to face him sooner or later.”

“Please, Jooheon! I feel like punching him.”

“Then do it. After I’ve asked him about Suga-nim, that is.”

Minhyuk huffed but said no more until they had reached the bus stop. It was already 7:10 but Kihyun was nowhere in sight.

“If that fucker decides to come late so that he can avoid going with me, I’ll kill him. I swear to god I will-”

“I don’t doubt it but you’ve been saved the trouble. There he is.”

Sure enough, there he was, walking slowly, resolutely not meeting Minhyuk’s glare.

“Hi, Jooheon.” Kihyun greeted Jooheon, clearly not surprised by his presence. “And Minhyuk.” He added as if it was an afterthought, not even looking Minhyuk in the face.

Minhyuk might have started swearing then itself but Jooheon spoke up before he could.

“Hello hyung! Hyung! I heard that you’re friends with- ouch!”

Minhyuk tried to look like he had stepped on Jooheon’s foot by accident.

“What the fuck, Minhyuk hyung?”

“Sorry Jooheon-ah, my bad. I didn’t mean to step on _your_ foot.”

There was an awkward silence before Kihyun scoffed. “You couldn’t be more subtle if you tried.” He said with a sardonic smile, finally looking Minhyuk in the face.

“Subtleness is my best quality.” Minhyuk tried to smile back but it came off as too hostile.

“Oh really? I sure couldn’t have guessed it.” Kihyun rolled his eyes.

Jooheon was beginning to regret his life.

“No, you know what, you’re right. After all, it’s you that is an expert at being subtle. Subtly stabbing people in the back-“

“Oh for Christ’s sake, there’s no need to be so dramatic. I don’t know why you have to overthink everything.” This was why Kihyun had wanted to go late. Fighting with Minhyuk was simply a pain in the ass. Neither of them backed down once they started. Moreover, Minhyuk always went on and on and Kihyun never knew if he could even hear himself speak.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Yoo Kihyun?”

“Does it look like-“ Kihyun was just beginning to get into fight mode when Jooheon interrupted him with a scream.

“IM CHANGKYUN!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs and both Kihyun and Minhyuk jumped in the air before staring at Jooheon with wide eyes.

“Jooheon are you okay?” Kihyun inquired blankly.

“Yes! I just-“

“Wanted to wake up the entire neighbourhood?” Kihyun cut him off, eyes scanning to see if anyone had come to their windows with pots and pans to throw at them.

“I agree. There are other ways of breaking up arguments, Jooheon. Besides, this is the wrong place to make a ruckus. You don’t want the sweet-shop ahjumma to be mad at you.”

“You’re one to speak. The other morning you were busy ‘speaking’ at the top of your lungs. I see where Jooheon gets it from-“

“I swear to god if you belittle my little brother I will punch you.”

Kihyun opened his mouth to curse but cut off abruptly when a guy with a rather prominent nose awkwardly shuffled over to them. Kihyun and Minhyuk stared at him blankly as he looked between them and Jooheon. He was wearing a blue button-down shirt and ripped black jeans and was carrying a heavy looking sling bag.

Belatedly Kihyun realized that Jooheon had shouted out a name.

“I’m so happy you’re here, bro. You have no idea.” Jooheon whispered, loud enough for Kihyun and Minhyuk to hear. Kihyun gave Minhyuk a pointed look that screamed ‘You see what I mean?’

Unlike Jooheon, his friend didn’t look remotely happy to be there. He was clearly looking for a way to escape.

“Changkyun-ah. What are you doing here?” Minhyuk asked, all lines of anger being replaced with a pleasant smile. Kihyun resisted the temptation to punch him for being able to switch moods so easily.

“Hello Minhyuk hyung. I was on my way to the cafe.” The boy named Changkyun answered with a surprisingly deep voice. To top it off he had called Minhyuk hyung, meaning that he was younger than Kihyun.

Kihyun couldn’t help but stare at him, unable to understand how someone who looked so mature was younger than him. Kihyun looked again at the boy’s long, defined nose and nodded to himself. Changkyun was rather good looking.

Changkyun noticed him staring and turned to him with a puzzled expression. Kihyun realized with a start that the boy was possibly shorter than him. He tried to fight the grin that came at the realization and probably ended up looking like a monkey as he stood there staring, half smiling-half frowning.

The boy bowed at him awkwardly, no doubt finding him weird as hell.

Kihyun cleared his throat and bowed back before looking away.

Jooheon looked at Minhyuk, clearly expecting him to introduce Kihyun but when Minhyuk remained stubbornly silent he gave in.

“This is Kihyun hyung.” He said shortly and to Kihyun’s confusion the boy’s eyes widened as if he recognized his name.

“Oh. Nice to meet you. My name is Im Changkyun, I’m Jooheon hyung’s friend.” The boy bowed politely, his intelligent eyes scanning Kihyun.

Kihyun’s mouth parted in surprise. Jooheon hyung? How young was this kid?

“Nice to meet you too.” He spoke up and took a quick breath, his anger at Minhyuk beginning to fade. “You work at a cafe, did you say? Is there a cafe here that opens so early?” He asked conversationally. If so, he would be saved the trouble of making coffee _every_ morning. Even as he thought this he knew that he’d have to make coffee for Hyungwon anyway.

“Oh yes, you’re heading to the cafe? Isn’t it too early, though? Aren’t they making you work too hard? Should I come and say something?” Minhyuk asked with a frown.

Kihyun almost rolled his eyes _again_ at Minhyuk’s endless questions.

Changkyun shook his head earnestly. “Don’t worry, hyung. I’m going early because I want to.” He looked at Kihyun before continuing. “The cafe opens at 8:30, unfortunately.”

_Damn._

“Don’t worry about Changkyun, Minhyuk hyung.” Jooheon spoke up. All he does in that cafe is read. I’ve seen it myself.”

Changkyun’s cheeks turned red. “That’s not true! That’s not all I do.”

“Oh right, he also gossips with the kind ahjumma who owns the cafe.” Jooheon agreed and had to dodge the literary criticism book that Changkyun pulled out of his bag and threw at him.

Jooheon picked up the book and dusted it off. “This is new, you’re actually studying?”

More books started to come out of Changkyun’s bag.

The sight of the approaching bus caused Kihyun to tear his eyes away from the amusing scene taking place in front of him.

His grin disappeared. He looked at Minhyuk and saw that he had become serious too.

Minhyuk stared back at Kihyun defiantly.

“Oh shoot, the bus is almost here. I never got to ask- Kihyun hyung, can you come home after you’re done with all your lectures? If you have time, that is.” Jooheon asked.

“Huh? You want me to come home?” Kihyun looked as bewildered as he felt. He looked at Minhyuk and saw that he was equally lost and somewhat stony-faced.

Jooheon seemed to have noticed Minhyuk’s expression too because he changed his mind. “Okay not home- can you meet me at Momo Café after your lectures are done?”

He had no problem in meeting Jooheon anywhere of course but for some reason he couldn’t say “Yes.” As easily he wanted to. His eyes found Minhyuk’s and he realized he was looking for permission. That made him mad at himself.

The bus was almost there and Jooheon, and for some reason Changkyun too, looked like they were on tenterhooks waiting for his answer.

He didn’t even know where Momo Café was but he had the strong suspicion that it was the cafe around the street corner. 

Before he could say anything, Minhyuk spoke up.

“We’ll meet you at Momo Café.” 

Then the bus was there and they had to leave Jooheon and Changkyun.

“See you later.” Minhyuk said before climbing onto the bus. Kihyun exchanged an exasperated look with Jooheon before waving goodbye and following Minhyuk into the bus.

 

“He looks like a hamster.” Changkyun said the minute the bus had rolled away. “He’s cute.”

They started to walk towards the cafe.

“Just don’t say that around Minhyuk hyung. He’s jealous enough as it is because of Kihyun hyung’s friendship with Suga-nim.” He groaned. “Judging from his expression, I’m sure he’s going to interrogate me for trying to meet Kihyun hyung alone.”

Changkyun grinned at his bad luck. “You’ll get out of it alive, no doubt. Minhyuk hyung won’t hurt a hair on your head.” He was still stuffing all the books he had taken out into the bag. Jooheon peeked and saw that there were at least 9 books in there. “They look cute together, by the way.” Changkyun went on, oblivious to his being judged. 

“I guess.” Jooheon said. “I’m too busy sorting out their love problems to notice anymore.”

“Oh come on, they are cute. I could hear them fighting from a block away.”

“I’m so tired of it. My brother has been thirsting for Kihyun hyung for years. I wish they’d just kiss already and leave me in peace.”

“Help them do just that, then.” Changkyun said unhelpfully.

“Uh why the fuck do you think I came to drop off my brother at the bus stop like he’s nine?”

“That’s not helping them. You couldn’t even stop them from fighting.”

“Excuse you, the only reason I called you was to do just that.”

“So the credits should go to me.”

“Keep dreaming.”

They had reached the cafe which was in the early stages of preparation.

“Are you coming in? Mrs. Lee was saying she hasn’t seen you in ages.” Changkyun asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

“I want to but I have to go early to college for some seminar.”

“Alright, I’ll tell her you’re dropping by later.”

“Yup. Minhyuk hyung texted saying they’ll be here by 1. I’ll come then.”

“Okay” Changkyun nodded.

Jooheon started to leave but noticed the calculating glint in Changkyun’s eyes and stopped. “What is it?” He asked, beginning to grin in spite of himself.

“Bro.” Changkyun said and grinned.

“Tell me, quick.”

_*_

 

Hyungwon and Hoseok stared at the pile of things Hyungwon had brought from the cupboard under the sink, the broom closet and the kitchen. It consisted of these items:-

A duster

A broom

A dustpan

A mop

A small bucket

A cloth

Cleaning liquids

Cleaning powders

A brush

A sponge

A carton of refreshing orange juice.

Two plastic cups.

A packet of corn chips.

 

“So,” Hoseok looked at him and grinned. “Any idea where we should start from?”

“The corn chips?” Hyungwon suggested, drawing a cute laugh from Hoseok. Guess Hoseok hadn’t realized that he was being serious. Hyungwon sighed softly and prayed that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself in front of Hoseok.

“Usually Kihyun does the dusting or sweeps the room first.” Hyungwon said.

“Great! You can take one and I’ll do the other?”

“Sure.”

“Any preference?”

Hyungwon tried to think of which was worse and decided that both sucked. “Not really, you can do whatever you like and I’ll do the other.”

“Oh.. Can I do the dusting then?” Hoseok asked with a shy smile.

_Fuck, that smile-_

“Sure.”

Hoseok grinned and picked up the dusting cloth as if he was picking up a baby.

Hyungwon stepped on one end of the broom like singers stepped on mic stands. Only it didn’t rise up into his outstretched hand, it just moved a centimetre to the right and lay there lifelessly.

He met Hoseok’s gaze and saw that he was trying not to laugh.

_Well, there go my hopes of not making a fool of myself in front of him._

“Sorry, I’m just really lazy.” He said, making things infinitely better for himself.

Hoseok let out a small giggle and picked up the broom and handed it to him. “Let’s start?”

Hyungwon didn’t trust himself to do more than nod.

He walked over to the door and started to sweep the floor just as Hoseok walked over to a corner and started dusting the items on display.

They worked in silence for a few minutes, with Hyungwon stealing glances at Hoseok every so often. He wondered if Hoseok found the silence boring or worse, awkward. He knew that he should break it but he wasn’t really the kind of person who could fill up awkward silences with witty remarks so he chose to remain silent.

“So Hyungwon-ssi..” Hoseok must have finally had enough of the awkwardness.

Hyungwon looked up from the dust he had gathered and saw Hoseok cleaning a guitar with careful hands.

“Yes, Hoseok-ssi?” The formality sounded strange even in his own ears and made him cringe inwardly.

“You’re a student, am I right?” Hoseok asked.

“Yes.” Hyungwon answered. He didn’t realize how strange he looked, clutching the broom and staring at Hoseok.

“What are you studying?”

“I’m studying Business Management.” Hyungwon mumbled and loosened his grip on the broom when he saw Hoseok nod and return to cleaning the guitar. It was Kihyun’s annoying voice in his head that prompted him to ask Hoseok a question of his own.“And what about you?”

Hoseok smiled at him. “I’m majoring in dance!” He said this with so much pride that Hyungwon could only give a startled nod in response.  

“That’s really cool.” He said, hoping to keep out the envy and admiration from his voice.

“Thank you. It sounds cool but it’s not all practical work, you know. We also have theoretical subjects which are not everyone’s cup of tea.”

Hyungwon nodded knowingly. “Social sciences and art and culture studies, I assume?”

“Yes! How do you know?” Hoseok was clearly taken aback.

Hyungwon felt his cheeks heating up. “I.. I would have majored in dance if I hadn’t been majoring in management.”

“So you like dancing too. That’s wonderful.”

Coming from someone else the statement might have sounded soulless but Hoseok looked so genuinely happy about it that Hyungwon’s (cold and dead) insides were melting. This was dangerous territory and he wouldn’t have been here had it not been for his mother.

They returned to the task at hand after that but Hyungwon could sense that Hoseok wasn’t used to working in silence.

“Hyungwon-ssi,” He began hesitantly “Which university do you attend?”

Hyungwon looked up but quickly looked back at the floor. “Kyung-hee University. You?”

“K’Arts.”

“Wow.” Hyungwon couldn’t have prevented that from escaping even if he’d tried. The Korean National University of Arts was one of the best known colleges for Arts.

Hoseok blushed at his response.

Since there were more things to dust than floor to sweep, Hyungwon finished first. He contemplated the pile of cleaning equipment before choosing the bucket, cleaning liquid and the mop. Hoseok tried to stay out of his way as he worked on making the floor sparkling clean. Not even five minutes into the task he found himself swearing.

Hoseok found him clutching his sides and panting and laughed. “Tired already?” He teased.

“I don’t know how Kihyun does this. He’s just proving my theory that he’s abnormal.” Hyungwon muttered, dropping the mop and stretching his arms above his head.

“Correct me if I am mistaken but when your mother was talking about your brother, was she referring to Kihyun-ssi?”

“He’s my adopted brother.” Hyungwon answered. “His biological parents passed away in a car crash when we were fifteen and my mum adopted him after that.”

Hoseok’s lips parted in surprise. “Oh.. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. My curiosity is terrible. That was really rude of me!” _And then he began to hit himself on the head._ If Hyungwon’s hearing was to be counted upon, Hoseok was also mumbling “Bad Hoseok!” to himself.

“It’s okay!” Hyungwon interrupted hurriedly. “Ki’s fine with people knowing; don’t beat yourself up over it. We don’t mind, really!”

Thankfully that was enough to stop Hoseok from hitting himself. He still looked really flustered though, so Hyungwon returned to mopping the floor, dying even more.

They worked in silence for some more time until Hyungwon’s stomach began to protest.

“Are you hungry?” Hyungwon asked.

“No but if you’re offering food I am up for it.”

Hyungwon grinned and retrieved the packet of corn chips. Hoseok brought over the orange juice and the cups. They sat down cross-legged on the recently cleaned floor and enjoyed their humble feast in silence, broken only by the sound of corn chips crunching.

Hyungwon watched as Hoseok eyed the items on display, clearly looking for something that he could buy. His eyes were sparkling as usual.

“Hoseok-ssi... Did whoever you bought the pendant for like it?” Maybe it was because of the lack of sleep or maybe it was because he felt more confident after spending some time with Hoseok but whichever it was, Hyungwon’s brain-to-mouth filter had clearly weakened. He was so shocked by his own daring that he stared at Hoseok with wide eyes, hand stationary in the chips packet. “I- I mean-”

To his amazement Hoseok replied without missing a beat. “Yes! She loved it. I’m so grateful to you and your mother for helping me buy it.”

“Oh great. I mean, that’s nice, haha.” Hyungwon chuckled awkwardly and stuffed his mouth with chips hoping it would stop him from ever opening his mouth again.

_Chae Hyungwon, you fucking idiot. When will you learn?_

Hoseok spoke again after a minute. “You must think I’m insane.” He said with a chuckle of his own.

“I’m sorry?” Hyungwon mumbled through his puffed cheeks.

“Don’t you? I don’t want to assume but- I mean, even my friends find it weird how I keep coming here every week.”

“Oh. _Oh._ ”

Hoseok mistook his response for confirmation. “You’re right, it _is_ weird. I don’t know why I come here so often either. It’s not like I earn so much that I can afford to buy things every week and yet I find myself drawn to this place. My mother thinks I should stop wasting money like this and maybe she is right. Our cafe isn’t doing well enough for me to be like this.. My part time job is just enough to help me pay off my student loans and yet I keep money aside to spend here. It’s strange, I guess.

“Frankly though, I love this place. I really love buying things that once belonged to someone else. I know it’s stupid but these things here, they have seen different times, different places and belonged to different people. Within them they have stories of love, anger, pain, betrayal, ecstasy, joy... We may or may not know these stories but if we want, we can own them and add to them. Have you ever bought a pre-owned book, Hyungwon-ssi?”

Hyungwon nodded slowly.

“You know how sometimes you can find scribbled notes in them? Sometimes they smell of the person who owned them- the scent of their hand cream or perfume remains. Sometimes there are stains. Words are hidden behind stains made from Kimchi, ketchup or-“

“Blood.” Hyungwon interrupted gravely.

Hoseok gave an amused grin and shake of his head. “Sometimes there’s nothing. The book seems almost new. The pages are crisp and clean. All these things tell a story- the story of the people who owned them before. The same logic applies to things that are sold at pawn shops. Don’t you agree?”

Hyungwon nodded once more. “That makes sense.”

Hoseok looked surprised at his quick agreement.

“Right. So, most of the times you can only make assumptions about these stories and be content with the half-knowledge. Sometimes, however, you have something to go on. For example, when I found out that the pendant belonged to your aunt. It was probably a symbol of love for her when she got it. Maybe it had become a symbol of regret by the time she decided to give it away. I bought it next and now it is again a symbol of love, for someone else. Down the line it could mean something else for someone else. In just a few years, the pendant will contain lifetimes of memories and stories in it.”

Hyungwon had never been this awake at 7:30 am.

The silence stretched awkwardly for a moment before he decided to speak. “I never really saw these objects this way but you’re right. We don’t really care about these things at the shop. We usually just see if the things are in a good condition and if it’s likely that someone else will want them. Occasionally Ki and I get curious and make up stories about things that are sold by interesting people but I’ve never seen it as significant.”

“Until now?” Hoseok asked hopefully.

Hyungwon bit his lip. “Honestly, I still don’t see how it matters. If I bought something that had been owned before, my priority would be buying something that is as new-looking as possible. I don’t think I’d spend much time wondering about who had owned the thing before. I do understand what you’re saying, though.”

Hoseok didn’t look disappointed by his answer. On the contrary, it made him smile wider.

Hyungwon was forced to look away from the brilliance of that smile. This was just terrible.

Hoseok was clearly a romantic and Hyungwon was not but at that moment, he couldn’t care less about that. The only thought pounding in his head was whether Hoseok’s girlfriend was as romantic as he was and was. Is that why she loved receiving gifts from their pawn shop? Was that why they got along well?

Both Hoseok and Hyungwon jumped as the door trinkled and Hyungwon’s mother stepped through.

“Did I disturb you? I’m so sorry!” She said, not looking sorry at all.

Her smug-looking smile told Hyungwon that she may have been behind the door for a while. He stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

“Not at all, Mrs. Kim!” Hoseok piped up with a smile. “Would you like some chips or some juice?”

Hyungwon’s mother smiled. “No thank you, Hoseok. I’m just going to have some coffee.” When Hoseok’s attention was not on her she mouthed ‘What a darling’ to Hyungwon and he smiled in spite of himself.

“You can leave the rest for tomorrow.” Mrs. Kim went on and Hyungwon’s shoulders slumped with relief.

“Really?”

“Yes, both of you have to get to college. Hoseok dear, come on and have some proper breakfast with us. Hyungwon, don’t offer this kind of nonsense to him from tomorrow and if I find you eating it for breakfast-“

“Alright, alright!” Hyungwon grumbled, drawing a giggle from Hoseok. To Hyungwon’s amusement, he found that Hoseok sounded like Spongebob Squarepants.

“Thank you, but my mother has already made breakfast. I will definitely stay for breakfast tomorrow, though.”  Hoseok promised, getting onto his feet.

Hyungwon stood up as well and watched in despair as crumbs of the corn chips dropped onto the floor.

“I just cleaned you, you traitorous piece of-”

Hoseok’s phone went off loudly, cutting him off.  “I should get this.” Hoseok mumbled, backing away toward the door.

“Goodbye Hoseok-ssi.” Hyungwon said promptly, relieved that he didn’t have to worry about embarrassing himself for twenty four hours at least.  

Hoseok paused in his steps. “Goodbye Hyungwon-ssi. Actually, is it okay if I call you Hyungwon? You are younger than me, if I’m not wrong. You can call me hyung? Only if you want to, that is.”

Hyungwon struggled to contain his smile. “Sure.. Hyung.”

Hoseok grinned and disappeared and Hyungwon bent to pick up the crumbs, pointedly ignoring his mother (who was smirking).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are amazing <3 Please feel free to comment, even if you just want to chat. If you have constructive criticism, I'll gladly accept that too! If you want to cry over anyone in Monsta X (or any other band, really) feel free to do that cause you guys are Special.
> 
> Also my album finally arrived and THEY ALL LOOK SO PRETTY I CANNOT.  
> I hope you liked this chapter!!


	5. Little Devils

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're downloading this fic and reading it, it's possible that your reader app can't display images! There are a few in this chapter which are necessary to understand the context :)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvvme-WMzQM   
> ^  
> Music playing in the cafe

Not even a second after Hoseok was out of sight, Hyungwon’s mother started off. “So... Hoseok _hyung_ , huh?”

“Oh my god mom, stop it, he can probably still hear us.”

Hyungwon held his breath for a few seconds but there was no sound to be heard. He breathed out slowly before facing his grinning mother.

“Stop.” He told her, even as an abashed grin spread across his own face.

“Things are going way slower than I’d like but this is proof that my plan is working.” His mother said, briskly sweeping up the crumbs that had dropped.

Hyungwon scoffed in disbelief. “There! I knew there was more to it than teaching me responsibility. This was your devious plan to get us to spend time together!” He folded his arms across his chest and glared at his mother.

“And?”

“And I’ve caught you!”

“How remarkable of you, you deserve a golden star.” She said and stood on her tiptoes to ruffle his hair. He’d definitely gotten his height from his father. “Go get ready already. Unless you want to be late, that is.”

“You can’t just change the subject!” Hyungwon protested. He flattened his hair as he spoke. “Mom, he has a girlfriend, we have discussed this. You can’t come up with plans to get us closer.”

“Don’t worry Hyungwon, at the rate we’re going, the closest you two will get is if you slip on wet floor and fall on him. Hey-” His mother’s eyes lit up with mischief.

“Don’t even think about it! Don’t think about it at all.” Hyungwon cut in immediately.

“Oh I won’t think about it. You will, though.” His mother said and left the room with an innocent smile. “Put the cleaning supplies back where they were.” She called over her shoulder.

Hyungwon was left shaking his head in disbelief.

_*_

 

Kihyun was sure that Minhyuk had had enough of him for the next few hours and he himself had had enough of Minhyuk too so he took the first empty seat he spotted, which was beside an old man. He forced himself to not look back for Minhyuk’s reaction and pulled out one of his notebooks to go over till they reached. He’d read the same line several times by the time the old man beside him got up and left. Not even three seconds passed before the seat was occupied again, this time by Minhyuk.

Kihyun forced himself to keep his eyes on his notes but it was getting harder by the second, thanks to the fact that Minhyuk’s eyes were burning holes into the side of his head.

“What?” He looked at Minhyuk finally.

“You haven’t turned the page since we left.” Minhyuk deadpanned. A strand of his blonde hair had fallen across his eye and was obviously making it hard to see but the idiot wouldn’t move it out of the way.

“Not everyone reads fast.” Kihyun said, turning back to his notes and finally turning the page.

A few minutes passed in silence during which Kihyun read a paragraph three times, internally cursing himself for not absorbing a word. He was on the brink of giving up and just listening to music when Minhyuk spoke again.

“You ignored my selca.” He stated. He was staring at the back of the seat in front of him. “You replied to Hyungwon but not to me. You left the campus suddenly with a stranger and then made it seem like I was getting worked up for no reason. In fact, you still won’t tell me who he is.” Minhyuk turned back to Kihyun. “I’m overreacting? I’m making a big deal of nothing?”

Kihyun felt his face heating up. He turned sideways to face Minhyuk better. “When you put it like _that_ you make me sound like the bad guy. I was going to reply to you too! You just got impatient. Besides, I told you, Yoongi is a friend, not a stranger.”

“No, Yoo Kihyun. You told Hyungwon that. All you told me was that Yoongi was someone I didn’t need to know. Really informative of you, thanks.”

Kihyun chewed on his lip. “Fine. I’m sorry, alright? I should have told you as well but you found out from Hyungwon anyway, right?”

Minhyuk let out an impatient breath. “Why do I have to find out from your brother?”

Kihyun found himself snorting. “Okay.. Since when did you start referring to Hyungwon as my brother?”

“Not the point here, he is your brother, isn’t he? Why is it that you could tell him who Yoongi is but not me? Is this because of...”

But Minhyuk trailed off and stared at his lap.

“Because of what?” Kihyun asked. His hands were itching to push aside that stupid strand of hair.

“Never mind.” Minhyuk said before looking back at him. “Just- you can tell me things too. I won’t overreact, I promise.”

“You kinda already overreacted, Minhyuk.”

“In my defence you were behaving really weirdly!”

“Lee Minhyuk, I swear to god.”

“Fine. I won’t overreact now. I’m prepared.” And he did look prepared, as if he was about to hear some bad news.

“I don’t get why you and Hyungwon have been acting like it’s some big secret. Yoongi is a high school friend of mine. We met after a long time so we decided to catch up over some coffee and then I went to his studio-“

“You went to his studio?” Minhyuk looked scandalized.

“Tch. What happened to not overreacting?”

“Well that was before I found out you went to his studio! Isn’t he some famous rapper? You went to the studio of a famous-“

“You stalked him, seriously?” Kihyun cut him off.

“It’s hardly stalking if they’re famous.” Minhyuk replied, shameless as usual.

“I don’t know what to say.” Kihyun could only shake his head at that point.

“Fine, don’t say it now. You have to say it again in front of Jooheon and Changkyun anyway.” Minhyuk said, getting up and heading toward the door.

That’s when Kihyun realized that they had reached the university bus stop. He stuffed his notebook in his back and rushed to get off the bus.

“What do you mean?” He asked when he caught up with Minhyuk. “Why do I have to say this in front of Jooheon and Changkyun?”

“They want to know how you know their idol.” Minhyuk shrugged. “They’re big fans.”

“Wait, so _that’s_ why they want to meet me at the cafe?” Kihyun couldn’t help but laugh. He had been expecting something serious. “Do they want an autograph or something?”

“Don’t hurt their feelings, bastard.”

“I won’t.” Kihyun laughed. In his pocket, his phone buzzed with a text message. He pulled it out and dismissed the message but glanced at the time and saw that they were late. “Fuck. Hurry up, Min. We’re going to be late.”

He set off running, not noticing Minhyuk’s exasperated smile.

_*_

A while back Hoseok had received a text message from one of his professors to meet her in her office after the creation workshop was over. He took a quick shower and put on a fresh pair of clothes before he made his way there.

Her office was located on the fourth floor of their department building. Hoseok had barely been inside the building in the past two months, too busy working on a dance routine with his friends for the semester project. They usually worked on it in the practice room allocated to them, which was in the main building.

Professor Choi was the head of the department of contemporary dance and Hoseok had learnt a lot from her in the few years he had been in K’Arts. He entered her room after knocking, feeling nervous at being  called so suddenly.

“Good morning, professor.” Hoseok greeted her before sitting on the chair offered to him. Professor Choi’s office was immaculate as always and smelled like lemongrass. He felt calmer when he realized that she was smiling at him. Professor Choi was a gentle but very talented woman, a pro at what she did. The shelf behind her chair was filled with numerous trophies and certificates. Every time Hoseok saw them he was inspired to work harder.

“How’s it going, Hoseok?” Professor Choi asked him with a pleasant smile. “I heard that you’re working hard on creating a new choreography with Hakyeon, Youngbin and the others.”

Hoseok explained their ideas to Professor Choi and was pleased when she said that she was looking forward to seeing what they came up with.

“Would you like some tea or coffee?” She asked him as she poured herself a cup of tea.

“I’m good, thank you, professor.”

“You must be wondering why I asked you to meet me. It wasn’t just to discuss your semester project.” Professor Choi said, straightening her glasses and taking a sip of tea.

Hoseok nodded, having figured that out. “What is it, professor?”

“Hoseok, you know very well that at K’Arts we value ability over age.”

Hoseok nodded slowly, having no idea where this was going.

“I know you’re more interested in choreographing these days but when you first came you were ambitious about taking part in one of our foreign programs. Some of the best of the graduate students from our department will be performing in France in a few months. One of the students selected fractured his leg and he had a pretty important role to play. We looked through other graduate students who could take his place but we couldn’t find anyone. We think that if there’s anyone capable of replacing him, it’s you.”

Hoseok was stunned by her words. It was true that he’d been really interested in going for one of the exchange programs or even performing at some of the famous dance companies abroad but that had been his goal a year ago.

 “Wow. That sounds like a... Wonderful opportunity.” He said carefully.

“But?” Professor Choi prompted. “Hoseok, I told you, age is not of importance.”

But it was. The graduate students were all younger than him. Thinking of it, that was probably why Jieun had called him the other day.

Hoseok chewed on his lip for a moment. “Professor Choi... You know we’re really close to finishing our first choreographed dance.” He said. “If I go...”

“You will not be able to help finish it, true, but this is a wonderful opportunity, Hoseok! I know you’re interested in choreographing but you should consider my offer. The performance is going to be wonderful. You’d have a very important role. I know you love being on stage.”

Hoseok opened and closed his mouth twice and the professor took pity on him.

“Hey, it’s okay if don’t answer me at once. Here, take this pamphlet, it has all the details of the show. Will you please get back to me soon, though? We’re short of time.”

Hoseok accepted the pamphlet and stared at the ridiculously perfect photo of the Eiffel Tower on the front page. “I... I’ll let you know soon.” He said and got up. “Thank you for thinking that I’m good enough.”

“You are.”

He bowed and turned to leave. It was when he was almost at the door that he remembered. “Professor?” He turned back.

“Yes?”

“If I say yes... Who will be my partner?”

“Song Jieun. Do you know her? Really good dancer. Donghyuk- he’s the poor boy who fractured his leg- they had a really good chemistry. The only other person who can match that would be you, I think.”

“Oh.” Hoseok mumbled. “I do know her. Thank you. I’ll get back to you soon.”

He already knew what his answer was going to be.

He walked out the door and closed it behind him, a million thoughts running through his head. He stared again at the pamphlet in his hand and held back a sigh. What a beautiful photo.

Hoseok loved dancing, he couldn’t deny that but the past year he’d been more inclined towards composing and choreographing. He loved creating something new and he’d been doing just that with Youngbin and Hakyeon. If he agreed to participate, he’d have to take a step back from choreographing. The performance in France would be around the same time as their evaluation. He’d have to sacrifice one of the two.

Of course, they would transfer credits for his project so that wasn’t what he was worried about but to think of their routine getting finished and performed without him just made him ache.

“Hoseok oppa? It is actually you. What a surprise.”

Hoseok’s eyes snapped up from the pamphlet to see a familiar petite figure in the corridor. Jieun didn’t look all that surprised to see him. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail but strands of hair had come loose and now framed her face almost artistically. Her cheeks were red from what he assumed was long hours of practice. Her clothes too pointed to her having come straight from practice.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here today.” She said as she walked over. “This is probably the first time I’ve seen you here in the past two months. You’re always in the practice rooms or the studios on the other side of the campus.” She went on with an ironic smile. “Does that mean Professor Choi has spoken to you about France? I doubt you’d be here otherwise.” Just then she glanced down at the pamphlet in his hand and nodded to herself. “So she did.”

“Song Jieun.” Hoseok said shortly. “As you can see, she did.”

Jieun moved closer still, moving her bag from one shoulder to another. “And? When are you going to start coming for practices? I’ve been practicing alone all this while.”

“I’m not.” Hoseok said. “Please move out of the way, I have work to do.”

“Oppa-“

“Don’t.” Hoseok cut her off and walked past her, trying to get out of there as soon as he could.

“Are you not joining because of the age thing? It will be fine, you know. Jason oppa just a year younger than you and he is in.” She called after him.

Hoseok scoffed before turning back around. “Are you being serious right now?” He could hardly believe his ears.

Jieun walked right up to him. “Is it because of me?” She asked, staring up at him. “I told you I was sorry. I’d have told you again if you hadn’t blocked my number and avoided me like the plague, you know?”

“Listen carefully, Jieun-ah. One, this has nothing to do with you. Two, stop calling my mother.”

“How am I supposed to contact you then? I don’t see you in college and I can’t contact you on your phone. I wanted to tell you about the France thing but-“

“Just don’t tell me anything.” Hoseok said and walked away.

“Are you really going to throw away such a big opportunity because of-“

But Hoseok had already got into the elevator and could hear nothing except for the ringing in his ears.

_*_

“So you’re saying that it will be weird to ask for an autograph?” Jooheon asked.

Changkyun didn’t reply at once, too busy tearing open packets of sugar to add to his latte. He only answered when he’d finished stirring and taken a satisfying sip.

“I don’t think it will be weird if you ask because you know Kihyun hyung. I only met him today, though so it’s probably better if I don’t ask for one.” He said quietly.

The cafe was empty except for a young couple sitting in the corner and themselves. Mrs. Lee was busy in the kitchen and Changkyun was starving but they had to wait for Kihyun and Minhyuk to arrive.

“It’s not like we’re asking for Kihyun hyung’s autograph, what are you so tensed about? Besides, I’m sure Yoongi-nim is used to giving autographs. Don’t worry about it; Kihyun hyung will get them for us.”

“That is if we manage to ask for it. If Kihyun hyung and Minhyuk hyung start fighting again-“

“Please don’t jinx this.” Jooheon cut him off and frowned. “But Kyun... You really think Hoseok hyung can help us get them together? I mean,” Jooheon looked around before lowering his voice, “His own relationship isn’t exactly soaring at the moment, is it?”

Changkyun sighed. “It is true that he hasn’t mentioned Jieun noona in weeks but it doesn’t change the fact that he is a shameless matchmaker.”

“Is that going to help these two?”

“They need someone to help them say what they’re too stubborn to admit to each other. Hoseok hyung will bring it out of them, I know it. Besides, if that doesn’t work we’ll just make him pretend to like one of them. Since it’s him, the other will get jealous enough to-“

“Changkyun no. Hyung is already so jealous because of Yoongi-nim. I’d hate to imagine what he’d do if someone as hot as Hoseok hyung takes an interest in Kihyun hyung.”

“Okay fine, maybe you have a point but we haven’t considered what Kihyun hyung would do if he got jealous.” Changkyun’s stomach grumbled loudly. “What time is it? Shouldn’t those two be here by now?”

Jooheon checked his phone and sighed. “They should. I hope they haven’t been caught up somewhere, fighting.”

Just as he finished speaking though, the door to the cafe opened and two figures walked in. Kihyun spotted them first and they made their way to the table for four. Both Changkyun and Jooheon watched them carefully for signs of brewing tension but the two seemed pretty normal.

“Hey.” Kihyun greeted, sitting down on the chair beside Jooheon and smiling a bit.

Minhyuk took the chair beside Changkyun and ruffled his hair with fondness. “Did you both wait too long?”

“No, Jooheon hyung came just half an hour ago.” Changkyun answered with a smile. Seeing the two being normal had made him feel more optimistic about getting the autograph he longed for and getting the two to come together.

“Is this the cafe you work in?” Kihyun asked Changkyun, looking around curiously. “I’ve lived in this neighbourhood for so many years but I’ve never been here. It seems like a nice place.” 

The cafe was rather nice. The huge glass windows overlooked the quiet street. There was soft jazz music coming from the speakers and the heavenly aroma of coffee was in every breath he took. There was also a good collection of books in the bookshelf.

“Are you on a break, Changkyun?” Minhyuk asked, his eyes scanning through the menu card. He had only been to the cafe once and hadn’t had anything but coffee that time so he was excited about trying out the food there.

“Yes, I told Mrs. Lee that my friends were coming over so she got Minseok hyung to take my place at the counter. She’s excited to meet you all. Are you guys hungry?”

“Starving.” Kihyun responded, leaning over the table to take a look at the menu card. Minhyuk turned it so both of them could see better and Jooheon and Changkyun exchanged a relieved glance.

“How were classes?” Jooheon asked.

“Pretty boring. I was texting Mark throughout class.” Minhyuk responded, waving his hand in the air. Across the table Kihyun visibly stiffened before pulling back.

“Did you decide already?” Minhyuk asked.

“Yes.” Was Kihyun’s curt reply before he had turned toward Jooheon. “How was your day, Jooheon?”

Jooheon looked startled for a moment before he recovered and answered. “It was good! Classes were pretty much the same as usual but I found out I did well on a test.”

Minhyuk grinned at Jooheon. “There’s my clever dongsaeng. I taught you well.”

“You taught him well?” Kihyun asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Jooheon almost groaned aloud. Thankfully Changkyun saved the situation by interrupting.

“Kihyun hyung!” He exclaimed loudly, startling everyone. Even the couple in the corner was startled at the sudden rise in volume. “Is it okay if I call you hyung?” Changkyun went on, his cheeks turning pink.

“Of- of course.” A bewildered Kihyun answered before smiling. “Minhyuk was telling me that you both are fans of Yoongi. I knew he was popular but I had no idea he was so famous.”

“He-“

But before Jooheon could get another word out, Minhyuk had interrupted him with “Anyone can be famous if they’re good looking.”

This ticked both Changkyun and Jooheon off but Kihyun was first to respond and to everyone’s surprise, he was laughing.  Minhyuk’s cheeks flared as he realized the implication of his words.

“You find Yoongi good looking?” Kihyun leant closer to Minhyuk, grinning with amusement.

“I never said that!”

“That’s what it sounded like. Didn’t it?”

“It did.” Changkyun agreed quickly. While Jooheon only looked at him warily, Minhyuk looked like he would kill him.

“I didn’t say that.” Minhyuk said and stole Changkyun’s latte as revenge.

“That’s what it sounded like, Min.”

“Whatever, I’m telling you I didn’t say that. I barely even saw him. I just guessed that he has the kind of appearance girls and boys die over.” He firmly avoided Kihyun’s eyes as he spoke.

Truth was that he had gone through Yoongi’s instagram and even gone as far as to check out his performances on youtube. He didn’t have as much knowledge about rap as his brother but even he could tell that Yoongi was something. Moreover he had gone through the comments on his posts and videos and nearly everyone seemed to find him hot or good looking.

Kihyun tsked at Minhyuk behaviour and lightly hit him on the hand. “Don’t steal the poor kid’s coffee to hide your embarrassment. I’ll buy you coffee.” With that he stood up. “I’m not buying you food though, don’t even think about it.”

As soon as he was gone Changkyun reclaimed his coffee and laughed at Minhyuk. “I like him.” He said and got a warning kick under the table from Jooheon. “I mean, he’s perfect for you, I approve.”

Minhyuk rolled his eyes. “Once again, I never needed your approval. Also, it makes no difference because he doesn’t like me back.”

“What are you talking about? You both are like a married couple already.” Changkyun said. 

“They definitely act like one.” Jooheon agreed.

“He doesn’t like me, okay?”

“Have you tried telling him?” Jooheon asked.

“I-I tried, okay? I tried and I failed.” Minhyuk said.

“I think he doesn’t know.” Changkyun said, lowering his voice as Kihyun went up to the counter. “It’s ridiculous because you’re so obvious, hyung, but he doesn’t know.”

Kihyun returned then with an iced Americano for himself and a Hazelnut Latte for Minhyuk. “I hope you’ll decided what you want to eat in the time I was gone.”

“Changkyun, these are your friends, is it?”

All of them turned to see a smiling middle-aged woman approaching their table. “Jooheon, it’s so nice to see you.” She said and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s been too long since you last came. Hoseok was saying he misses you too. Have you been busy?”

“Yes Mrs. Lee.” Jooheon answered with a pout. “I’m always buried under a pile of assignments.”

“As his brother I can assure you that it’s not true.” Minhyuk said with a friendly grin.

“Hyung!”

“Minhyuk, am I right?” Mrs. Lee asked with a smile. “Jooheon always talks a lot about you whenever he comes.”

Minhyuk started to get up to greet Mrs. Lee properly but she stopped him.

“Please, don’t be so formal. Are you kids hungry? Changkyun has been groaning about being hungry for hours.” She said and Changkyun turned red.

“I’m not the only one who’s hungry.” He muttered with a pout.

“We were just deciding what to get.” Kihyun said with a smile. “The cafe is really nice. The music is pretty good too.”

“Thank you, dear. I’m happy you think so. Forgive me but I don’t know your name.”

Kihyun quickly introduced himself, adding that he lived at the street corner.

“Come often, Kihyun dear, and you too, Minhyuk. I won’t keep you’ll hungry anymore. I better go; my son should be here soon anyway. Have a nice meal!”

After Mrs. Lee had gone back inside the kitchen and the four had given their order, Jooheon brought up Yoongi.

“So Kihyun hyung, how do you know Yoongi-nim?”

“This is the fourth time I’m saying this but we were friends in school. His father and mine were good friends so we used to hang out quite often. He went back to his hometown after high school and became a famous rapper. I wasn’t really in touch with him all this while but I ran into him at college the other day and exchanged numbers with him.” Kihyun finished. Throughout his speech his eyes kept flitting toward Minhyuk who had a suspiciously blank face. Minhyuk must have been dying with curiosity considering his nature and yet he remained oddly silent.

“Wow.” Jooheon said finally.

“Wow.” Changkyun agreed. “You’re childhood friends with one of the coolest rappers of our country.”

A flustered Kihyun sipped on his coffee, unsure how to respond. It wasn’t like he didn’t think Yoongi was pretty cool but he was his friend and it was weird to see someone fanboying over him. Moreover he didn’t think of his friendship with Yoongi as an achievement, they just happened to get along well and he just happened to be famous. “Anyway, if you guys want his autograph or something I can ask him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” He said.

“Hyung...” Changkyun looked like he would cry.

“You’re the kindest soul in the universe.” Jooheon added, taking his hand.

“Don’t cry, please and I’m not- I’m not kind. It’s not a big deal, really. Oh look! Looks like our food is here, I’ll go get it.” Kihyun rushed to get the food and Changkyun followed on seeing that he wouldn’t be able to carry it all.

Minhyuk smiled at Kihyun’s back before turning to his brother “Jooheon.” He whispered urgently. “Do me a favour and ask him if he ever dated Yoongi.”

“ _What?_ No! You ask him if you wanna know.”

“Jooheon!”

“He’s your best friend, shouldn’t you know?”

“Jooheon, come on-“

“-That’s how I ended up working here.” Changkyun and Kihyun came back with trays of delicious looking food and set it down on the table, passing around chopsticks, spoons and forks.

Minhyuk glared at Jooheon but he’d already lost him to food. Looks like he’d have to find out from Hyungwon.

Changkyun had just told Kihyun how he was taking a break from academics and he’d have died of boredom if it hadn’t been for his friend Hoseok, who had helped him land this job.

“This Hoseok hyung of yours,” Kihyun tasted his pasta and hummed in pleasure, “Is he by any chance called-”

But Changkyun cut off Kihyun’s sentence with an “Oh, Hoseok hyung!” just as the door opened, revealing a red haired Shin Hoseok.

“There he is.” Changkyun gestured toward the door.

“What the-“ Kihyun’s eyes widened in realization.

Hoseok walked over to them with a smile, his own eyes widening upon seeing Kihyun.

“Oh, Kihyun-ssi! It’s wonderful to see you here in our cafe.” Hoseok grinned.

Kihyun swallowed his food with difficulty. “ _Our_ cafe?” He asked.

“Yes,” Hoseok smiled. “This is my mum’s cafe!”

“Oh. So you’re- you’re the son Mrs. Lee was talking about.” Kihyun said. His hands were already groping around in his bag for his phone. “That’s- that’s wonderful.”

“I hope she didn’t say anything embarrassing.” Hoseok mumbled before he noticed Jooheon and grinned again. “Jooheon-ah!”

Kihyun was no longer listening though.

 

 

 

 

Kihyun locked his phone and tuned back in to Hoseok and Changkyun bickering over Jooheon. He risked a glance at Minhyuk and wasn’t surprised to see him pouting at him. This was not good for Kihyun’s heart. He gestured for Minhyuk to check his phone and quickly typed out and sent a message to him.

 

 

He watched Minhyuk read his text and wasn’t surprised to see his eyes bulging out of his head. He mouthed a ‘really?’ and Kihyun nodded, glancing once again at Hoseok, who seemed to be really close to Changkyun and Jooheon. When he looked back at Minhyuk, he saw that he was smirking.

Minhyuk cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention before smiling at Hoseok. “So you’re the Hoseok that Jooheon speaks so fondly of. I’m Lee Minhyuk, Jooheon’s older brother.” Even as he said this, his fingers were busy typing on his phone under the table. A moment later Kihyun got a text from Minhyuk.

 

 

Hyungwon would surely kill Kihyun.

God he loved Minhyuk.

“Hoseok-ssi. Are you free this Sunday, by any chance?” Kihyun asked Hoseok with what he hoped was an innocent smile.

“This Sunday? I’ll have to clean up the store with Hyungwon in the morning but I’ll be free in the evening, mostly.” Hoseok answered.

Clean up the store with _Hyungwon_ , not _Hyungwon-ssi_. Kihyun was delighted. “Well I was thinking, since you’re friends with my friends and I’m friends with yours, it would be nice for all of us to hang out together, don’t you think?”

Jooheon and Changkyun were looking like him like he had lost it. Hoseok on the other hand looked intrigued and not too put off by the idea.

“Oh!” He mumbled. “Sure, it would be fun, I guess.”

“Great! One of our friends is hosting a party at his place this Sunday. We’re all going; you will come too, right?” Minhyuk flashed his most charming smile.

“Wait. We are? But whose party are we talking- OUCH!” Jooheon ducked under the table to nurse his injured foot and Changkyun, who had obviously been about to ask something similar closed his mouth at once and nodded as if he was in on the plan all along.

He was a smart kid, clearly.

Hoseok looked pretty awkward, possibly because of Minhyuk’s forwardness. Kihyun rushed to reassure him. “Hyunwoo hyung would love to meet you! He loves dancing too. I’m sure you would get along well.”

If Hoseok found it suspicious that Kihyun knew about his love for dancing, he didn’t show it.

“If you’re all sure?” Hoseok looked at each of their faces and they all hurried to confirm that they would love to have him at the party even though they weren’t the ones to host it and two of them didn’t even know which party they were talking about.

“Well, okay!” Hoseok said and grinned. “I look forward to hanging out with you’ll then.”

Kihyun and Minhyuk exchanged devilish grins.

 Now they just had to make sure that Hyungwon didn’t find out about this. And maybe tell Hyunwoo that they had invited three people he didn’t know to his party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! I hope you found this chapter interesting! Thank you for taking the time to kudos and comment, I really appreciate it! <3


	6. A Real Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonho being proud of his body makes me really happy! Also I had a suspicion that his name was Lee Hoseok and not Shin Hoseok but now I'm sure, thanks to the Ask Anything interview! I'll try to change the Shin to Lee when I get time and here onward I'll refer to him as Lee Hoseok!  
> I realize that there's more Kihyuk than anyone anticipated (myself included) and I hope you'll don't hate it!  
> Don't hesitate to talk to me! <3

When they had finished eating Changkyun resumed his position at the counter after thanking Minseok for taking his place. He smiled at Minhyuk, Kihyun and Jooheon, who were about to leave. “It was nice to have lunch with you guys. Do come by often.”

“We will.” Minhyuk promised, patting all his pockets in search of his phone. “We had fun too.”

“Here.” Kihyun handed over his phone to him. “You left it at the table.” At Changkyun he smiled and said “I expect we’ll be seeing each other more often from now on. Enjoy the rest of your shift!”

“I will if Hoseok hyung can leave Mrs. Lee alone for a minute and come and entertain me.” Changkyun rubbed his temple dramatically. “Otherwise I’ll be stuck here doing nothing till 5.”

Jooheon snorted at the younger boy’s response. “Stop bullshitting us, you’ve probably got some book hidden in there. You’re just waiting for us to go so that you can get back to it.”

“Oh no, you caught me.” Changkyun deadpanned. “Now go.”

“Is it anything sexy?” Minhyuk leaned over the counter and started poking around but Kihyun pulled him back by the collar and dragged him toward the door. “Bye Changkyun! See you soon. Enjoy reading. Jooheon..?”

Jooheon was still at the counter, wearing a suspiciously guilty smile. “You guys go ahead, I have to talk to Changkyun about a.. A game. Bye.”

“What game?” Minhyuk asked, immediately distracted.

“There is one. You don’t play it.”

“A game you play that I don’t?”

“Come on, Minhyuk.” Kihyun tugged.

“But I want to know what game-“

Kihyun pulled Minhyuk out before he could protest anymore. The door shut behind them. “Get a hint, will you?” He rolled his eyes.

“What? I was just trying to find out what game he was talking about.”

“I doubt there is a game like that. He probably wanted to hang out with Changkyun for a bit. Why were you interrogating him?”

“They always hang out, there’s nothing new in that.”

“Then why were you questioning him?”

Minhyuk remained silent because he obviously had no answer.

“Are those two.. Together?” Kihyun asked. From the glass door they could see Jooheon leaning in closer to tell Changkyun something.

“Together? As in dating?” Minhyuk started laughing. “No, they’re just best friends.”

“Oh. Well, come on.” Kihyun said and started walking in the direction of his house.

“Where?” Minhyuk asked, still rooted in place.

“Aren’t you going to walk me home?”

“I walked you home last time. You should be walking me home.” Minhyuk folded his arms across his chest.

Kihyun’s house was nearer but he gave in, not in the mood to argue. “Okay, fine. Come on.”

They started walking toward Minhyuk’s house instead. As they went Minhyuk blabbered on for a while about how good the food was.

“...Come here again-“

“Minhyuk-ah.” Kihyun cut in. “Don’t tell Hyungwon that we invited Hoseok-ssi to Hyunwoo hyung’s party.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s better if he doesn’t know.”

“But then he won’t bother dressing up if he doesn’t know his crush is coming. We have to make sure Wonwon looks hot for Hoseok-ssi!”

“I’m sure you’ll dress him up anyway. If he finds out we invited Hoseok-ssi.. He’ll stop talking to us.” He’d be angrier at Kihyun though, even if it was Minhyuk’s idea.

“Why would he stop talking to us? Shouldn’t he be thanking us? How does that make sense?”

“Look, Hoseok-ssi has a girlfriend or something. He buys all these gifts for her from the shop. You know how Hyungwon is; every time eomma or I ask him to get closer to Hoseok-ssi he accuses us of trying to make him a ‘boyfriend stealer’. He likes to think that he’s content in admiring Hoseok from afar.” Kihyun let out a frustrated sigh. “But he’s obviously not. He starts acting like a fool every time Hoseok-ssi is around and it’s just painful to watch. He literally looks at him with heart eyes but if I tell him that he’ll ask me to fuck off because he’s not interested in making a move.”

“Okay.” Minhyuk said, taking it all in. “That’s really stupid. If Hyungwon really doesn’t want to make a move on him he should move on.” He said simply.

Kihyun stared at his feet and frowned. “It’s not as easy for some of us, you know. Don’t be so heartless.”

“I’m not trying to be mean, Ki. If Hoseok-ssi is in a happy relationship and Hyungwon doesn’t want to take that away from him he should find someone else. In fact, If you had told me this earlier I would have never asked you to invite Hoseok-ssi to the party.”

Kihyun bit his lip. “Is it that bad to make them friends?” He asked.

“Well, no. But Ki, if Wonwon truly has it bad for Hoseok-ssi how is seeing him often going to help? Shouldn’t we help him move on by encouraging him to meet new people at the party?”

Kihyun was suddenly regretting a number of decisions. “Well, it’s too late.” He grumbled. “We already invited Hoseok-ssi to the party. Besides, they’re going to see each other every morning for a month at least.” He explained the situation with the pendant to Minhyuk. By the time he was done explaining they had arrived at Minhyuk’s house.

“Wow, I really don’t know what to think.” Minhyuk said, reaching into his pockets for the house keys.

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s probably going to make me sound bad when I say this, but Hyungwon is a gem. He’s a good person, he can be fun and charming when he wants to and he’s also hot. If Hoseok-ssi ends up liking him and that ruins his relationship.. Some things are just not meant to be.”

Like us, Kihyun thought. “Right.” He said. “That can happen. In that case it wouldn’t really be our fault, right?”

“Wouldn’t it?”

“..I feel like a sinner.”

Minhyuk laughed and it was so loud that Kihyun could almost hear the neighbours gritting their teeth. “You are no sinner, Yoo Kihyun. If you go to hell, it will be for keeping your surroundings _too_ clean. And nagging your friends.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes. “And if you go to hell it will be because your neighbours couldn’t stand how loud you were and cursed you to end up there.”

“That’s actually possible.”

“Right. Well, I should get going.”

“Already? Oh, right.”

“Right.”

Minhyuk stared at him like he was caught up in his thoughts but after a few seconds he did no more than wave goodbye at him. “Thanks for walking me home. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah.” Kihyun said. He turned around and started to walk in the direction of his house.

“Kihyun, wait!”

Kihyun stopped in his tracks and turned around. His heartbeat was annoyingly loud. “What?”

“I...”

“You what?”

“I’m going to dye my hair.” Minhyuk said.

“Huh? Oh. Oh great.”

_Oh fuck._

He immediately pictured Minhyuk in red or blue hair. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“N-nothing. That’s awesome.”

Minhyuk nodded to himself. “Do you... Do you want to get it done together?”

Kihyun raised his eyebrow in confusion. “Together? What like the same colour?”

“Do friends do that?” Minhyuk let out an awkward laugh. “I didn’t mean- not necessarily the same colour, no. Just- together.”

“Oh.”

“We could get the same colours too, if you want! Anything works, I mean. Same colours, different colours. Do you want to go? Together?”

It was the first time Kihyun had seen Minhyuk acting this awkward. He smiled, feeling amused at how out of place he looked. “Okay.” He said. “Let’s dye our hair... Together.” He immediately cringed at how ridiculously pre-teen he sounded.

Upon seeing him make a face, Minhyuk burst out laughing and it wasn’t long before he joined in. It was probably one of the weirdest conversations he’s had with Minhyuk and that was saying something when you were best friends with Minhyuk.

“Go home, you idiot. I’ll text you.”

“Okay. Bye.” Kihyun grinned. He waited till Minhyuk had gone inside before pulling out his phone and dialling Hyunwoo’s number. It suddenly struck him that Minhyuk had called him an idiot but before he could dwell on that he heard Hyunwoo’s husky voice on the other end.

 “Hello?”

“Hello, Hyunwoo hyung? It’s me, Kihyun.” He started walking home.

_*_

Changkyun and Jooheon watched Kihyun drag Minhyuk out of the door. They lingered there for a while before leaving. Jooheon leaned against the counter and Changkyun sat on the chair.

“So.. A game that we play that Minhyuk hyung doesn’t?” Changkyun raised a sceptical brow at Jooheon. “You suck at making excuses.”

“I didn’t think I’d have to make one! I thought they’d be in their own world and forget about me.” Jooheon said.

“Really?”

“Really. They always forget I’m there when they’re arguing.”

“They were pretty okay today, though.”

“You prevented an argument when you asked Kihyun hyung if you could call him hyung. Really smooth, by the way.”

“Shut up, it was better than ‘I want to talk to Changkyun about a game’.”

“Alright, alright. You stopped a fight, that’s all that matters. They were pretty docile but I doubt it will be long before one of them blows up at the other. They need to make out, I’m serious.”

Changkyun snorted. “Hopefully with Hoseok hyung’s help they will end up making out. Maybe we can make that happen at the party!”

“Which reminds me; don’t you find it weird that Minhyuk hyung and Kihyun hyung invited Hoseok hyung to some party?”

“We’re invited too.” Changkyun told him with a grin which quickly dissolved into a look of dread “Oh shit, I don’t have anything decent to wear!”

“Bro, you look good in anything.”

“Thanks man, I’m touched. You look great in anything too, have I told you that?’

“No, but let’s get back to the point.” Jooheon sat up straighter and leaned in closer to Changkyun. “I think it’s really strange. I mean, we discussing how we’d subtly introduce Hoseok hyung to those two and use his help to bring them together and here they are, inviting him to some party when they’ve only just met him. Is Hoseok hyung a wizard or something?”

Changkyun resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “Kihyun hyung already knew him so is it that weird that he’d invite him to a party?”

“A party thrown by someone else? Kinda. It was so sudden too. Whose party is it anyway?”

“Kihyun hyung mentioned that some Hyunwoo would love to have Hoseok hyung there. I’m guessing it’s his party.”

“Why are we invited?”

“I don’t know. Does it matter? Our task just became simpler, what are you so suspicious for? All we have to do now is talk to Hoseok hyung and he can work his magic.”

“Why aren’t you suspicious?” Jooheon asked. “All of a sudden we’re going to some party- we don’t even know who is throwing the party. Anyway, I won’t let my guard down just yet. Something is weird.”

“Okay.” Changkyun said before pulling open the drawer under the desk and placing a book on the table. Jooheon tilted his head to read the title. “Not Fifty Shades of Grey, then?”

Changkyun raised his head to give him a judgemental look before focusing on the book again.

“When are we talking to Hoseok hyung?” Jooheon asked. “Changkyun?”

“Hm.”

“Hya.”

“Yes, sure, I’d love to.” Changkyun mumbled.

Jooheon stretched his fingers determinedly before putting his hand on Changkyun’s forehead and pulling back his index finger to flick Changkyun on his head.

“Stop.” Changkyun pulled back hurriedly. “God, I thought we were friends!”

Jooheon flattened his shirt in a dignified manner before asking Changkyun again “When are we talking to Hoseok hyung?”

“To me?”

Hoseok walked up to them, now dressed in red track-pants that matched his hair and a black tank top that showed off his well defined arms.

“Where are you going?” Changkyun asked, although it was easy to guess.

“The gym.” Hoseok answered. “Why? What did you want to talk about?”

Back in the corner Jooheon and Changkyun could see the girl who had come with her boyfriend stealing glances at Hoseok.

“Hyung, how do you know Kihyun hyung?”

“He works at the pawn shop I frequent. Him and his adopted brother. He’s a nice guy.”

“Glad to know you think so.” Changkyun said. “We need your help in setting him up with Jooheon hyung’s brother.”

“Minhyuk-ssi?”

“Yes.” Jooheon nodded. “Please, Hoseok hyung. Both of them are just so dense-“

“They’re like a married couple,” Changkyun interjected “That has no idea they’re married.”

Hoseok smiled at his dongsaengs. “That’s really nice of you two but I think Kihyun-ssi is already dating someone.”

“WHAT?”

_*_

“Please Hyunwoo hyung, why can’t you do this for me? Just one, come on!”

They had decided to get lunch at the fast food restaurant near their campus. Hyungwon had been whining for a good ten minutes at this point but Hyunwoo was not to be shaken. He just continued to eat his hamburger in peace.

“Hyunwoo hyung, are you even listening to me? Did you hear anything that I said?”

Hyunwoo had indeed heard Hyungwon but he’d only bothered answering once. He had denied Hyungwon’s request right after he had made it and then he had continued eating his food in peace.

“Are you forgetting that you know me first? Hyung?”  

Hyungwon had tried all the psychological techniques compliance that he knew.

He had started by making a bigger request which would surely be rejected, followed by a smaller one which a person would be more likely to accept. (Door-in-the-face technique.) Could Hyunwoo cancel the party? Well, if not could he convince Kihyun to let Hyungwon sit it out?

When that hadn’t worked, he’d tried the opposite_ Foot-in-the-door technique (making a smaller request followed by a bigger request once the smaller one is granted) by first asking Hyunwoo to hold his bag and then asking him if he could _please_ speak to Kihyun about letting him sit out the party.

Next he’d tried relying on the norm of reciprocity (altruistic gestures are repaid in kind) by hurriedly paying for Hyunwoo’s meal and then making subtle hints about how if Hyunwoo felt like he owed Hyungwon he could talk to Kihyun about letting him sit out the party. Hyunwoo had done no more than thank him for paying.

Next he’d tried the salesman’s classic ‘That’s-not-all’ by saying that if Hyungwon skipped the party, Hyunwoo would have the added advantage of not being annoyed by him.

When that hadn’t worked as well he’d given up on psychological techniques because one, he didn’t seem to be doing them right, two, he couldn’t remember anymore techniques of compliance and lastly, he’d wasted money on Hyunwoo and he had shown no signs of budging.

So he’d resorted to emotional blackmail.

But no matter how many times he asked Hyunwoo whether he valued Kihyun more than him, Hyunwoo didn’t so much as bat an eyelid.

In the end Hyungwon got tired (both mentally and physically) and just ate his food quietly.

“Hyungwon-ah.”

Hyungwon stared up at Hyunwoo with disbelieving eyes. “Are you finally listening?”

“I heard you.” Hyunwoo said and smiled.

“What took you so long to respond? Were you charging your robot batteries?”

“No, I was waiting for your pathetic attempts to end.”

“You’re horrible.”

“You’re generally not supposed to say that to the person you want to convince.”

“I gave up.” Hyungwon stuffed his face with French fries that had already gone cold.

“If you really don’t want to come to my party you don’t have to.” Hyunwoo said quietly.

Hyungwon’s eyes lit up “Really?”

“Sure. I won’t be talking to Kihyun about it, though.”

“I hate you.”

“You’re generally not supposed to say that to-“

“Hyung!”

Hyunwoo only laughed.

Hyungwon put his head on the table, only to jump in surprise when Hyunwoo’s phone buzzed loudly. He watched Hyunwoo lift the phone and answer it, pokerface back in place.

“Hello? Ya Kihyun-ah.”

Hyungwon sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes at Hyunwoo but he was obviously back to ignoring Hyungwon.

“Sure, no problem. Don’t worry about it. Your friends are my friends. Me? I was just grabbing lunch at the fast food joint near the campus. Don’t worry; I don’t eat fast food every day. Hyungwon? He’s with me, yes. What? Okay. Just hold on.” Hyunwoo pulled the phone away from his ear and addressed Hyungwon “Do you want to talk to Kihyun?”

“What makes you think I do?”

“Well, for one, you’re glaring at me like you have a lot to say. I also wondered if you wanted to ask Kihyun what you wanted me to ask him.” He pressed the phone to his ear “He has nothing to say. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

Hyungwon scoffed and stuffed more fries into his mouth. He’d just have to do it himself. He’d try convincing Kihyun once he was home.

They ate in silence for a while before Hyunwoo spoke up “I’m surprised you’re not asking me anything.”

Hyungwon glared at Hyunwoo once again, waiting, but he was obviously enjoying making him suffer so he decided not to ask. “Fine, I’ll ask you. I’m asking you to buy me ice cream.”

Hyunwoo laughed once again. “Of course I’ll buy you ice cream.”

“I really hate you.”

But Hyunwoo only smiled.

Hyungwon could only keep it in for ten minutes though. As soon as they had bought ice cream from the convenience store he asked Hyunwoo what Kihyun had called him for. They were both seated on one of the tables outside the store.

“Why did he call you?” He asked, refusing to look at Hyunwoo. He watched the dull street instead, bathed in afternoon light.

“Kihyun?”

“No, my great grandfather.”

 “He called because he’s invited more people to the party.”

Hyungwon looked away from the obnoxious car parked by an expensive restaurant and stared at Hyunwoo with disbelief. “What? He invited more people to your party?”

“I’d told him earlier that he could.” Hyunwoo shrugged.

“Has he lost it?”

“I don’t think so.”

Hyungwon furrowed his eyebrows. “Who did he invite now? Minhyuk’s already going.”

Hyunwoo shrugged, clearly indifferent. “I don’t know, he said three more people.”

“ _Three people_?”

Hyungwon pulled out his phone and called Kihyun at once.

“I thought you had nothing to say?” Kihyun answered.

“Listen, you hamster-“

“Language-“

“Have you lost your mind? Why are you inviting more people to the party?”

“Hyunwoo hyung has no problem with it, why do you?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’m concerned that you’re becoming too close with people you barely know!”

“Hyungwon, let’s talk about this when you come home. I have lots of work.”

“Fine! I’ll be home in half an hour.” He said, hurriedly throwing his stuff into his bag and getting up.

“Hyungwon-ah, where are you going? You have another lecture, did you forget?” Hyunwoo piped in.

Hyungwon sat back down on the chair.  “I’ll be home in two hours.”

Kihyun only sighed before hanging up.

“That little shit!” Hyungwon muttered to himself. “He said he’s inviting three people, is that right?”

“Yup.”

“And you already invited Minhyuk, right? Then who else could it be- Wait a minute, how do you know Minhyuk?”

“I went to Myeongdong with Kihyun and Minhyuk once.”

“Oh my god, Hyunwoo hyung.”

“Hyungwon, your ice cream.”

“ARGH.”

_*_

Hyungwon pushed open the room door and walked in to Kihyun smiling and texting someone. He dropped his things on his desk before collapsing on his bed. He allowed himself ten seconds of peace before turning over to face Kihyun.

“Kihyun. How was your day?” He tried to keep his tone as conversational as possible, not having the energy to argue.

Kihyun sent one last text and kept his phone aside before facing Hyungwon, sitting cross-legged on his bed. He knew that Hyungwon had posed his question lightly but he wanted to know everything so he started right from the beginning.

“Well this morning Minhyuk turned up at the bus stop with Jooheon to act as his body guard.” He said “Jooheon is his younger brother.” He added, seeing the confusion on Hyungwon’s face. “Anyway, Minhyuk and I started arguing and Jooheon looked like he wanted to kill himself but right then his friend Changkyun happened to pass by and Jooheon called him over and introduced him to me. We chatted for a bit and Jooheon asked me to meet him and Changkyun at Momo Cafe for lunch because he wanted to talk to me about something. Changkyun works there, by the way. Minhyuk predictably decided that he was invited as well so we made plans to meet at two. Minhyuk and I got onto the bus and I ignored him for a while but then he accused me of treating him and you differently. He made some pretty valid arguments.”

“Does that mean you’ll made up?”

“We did.”

“Thank heavens for that. Also, I don’t blame you for treating me differently, I’m pretty amazing.”

“Keep dreaming, beanpole. Anyway, we met for lunch and Jooheon and Changkyun revealed that the reason they wanted to meet me was because they’re both huge fans of Yoongi and were wondering how we became friends and if I could get them his autograph.”

“He’s really popular I guess. Then Hoseok came?”

“No, his mother did. She’s the owner of the cafe. We talked for a while, she seems really nice. Then Changkyun told me that he only got this job because of his good friend Hoseok, who’s really kind and big-hearted-“

“And you didn’t think it could be _our_ Hoseok?”

“There are a lot more kind and big hearted Hoseoks in this country, did you know? Also since when is he _our_ Hoseok?”

Hyungwon turned red but said nothing.

“Of course, I did wonder if it was the Lee Hoseok we knew, which is why I asked Changkyun but before I could Hoseok-ssi himself walked in. That’s when I texted you.”

“Oh. That’s- nice. Did he have lunch with you’ll?”

“No, he chatted for a bit and then went to help his mother.”

“What did you’ll talk about?”

Kihyun chose his words carefully. “We spoke about what an interesting coincidence it was that we had so many friends in common. Minhyuk introduced himself too and that’s all. Then he left.”

“He didn’t..” Hyungwon chewed on his lips.

“He didn’t what?”

“Oh fuck this.” He muttered and pulled his pillow up to his chin. “He didn’t ask why I wasn’t there with you’ll? Or ask about me at all?”

In a different circumstance Kihyun might have made fun of Hyungwon but at that moment he felt nothing but pity for his best friend.

“No Won, he didn’t.” He said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. “But he called you Hyungwon, not Hyungwon-ssi.” He added with a smile.

“Oh, yes. He, um, asked if he could speak informally with me, before he left.” Hyungwon said and smiled as well. “What did you do after you left the cafe?”

“I walked Minhyuk back home and something funny happened.”

“You tripped on your shoelaces and fell?”

“No, bitch. Minhyuk got all awkward while asking if I’d like to dye my hair with him.”

“You’re going to dye your- wait, Minhyuk got awkward? And you didn’t film that?”

Kihyun snickered. “It was so ado- funny.”

“Funny.” Hyungwon repeated.

“Yes. Anyway, I said I would, so yes, I’m going to dye my hair.”

“Sounds like fun. Can you dye your hair pink?”

“Shut up.”

“So... Jooheon and Changkyun. Who is the third?”

“The third? The third what?” Kihyun asked.

“Hyunwoo hyung said you invited three more people to his party. I’m assuming Jooheon and Changkyun make two of them. Who’s the third?”

Kihyun opened and closed his mouth. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Minhyuk was already invited, so who’s the third person? Oh my god, did you invite- you did, didn’t you?” Hyungwon sat up and gaped at Kihyun like a fish and Kihyun stared back in horror.

“W-what?” He stuttered. Had Hyungwon already figured it out? How was that possible?

“ _You invited Yoongi_? Even though you made up with Minhyuk? How could you do that, Kihyun? Does Minhyuk know? I can’t believe you!”

“Yoongi?”

“You invited him, didn’t you? He’s the third person.”

“Oh. Oh yes. I did. It’s Yoongi, he’s the third person I invited.”

Hyungwon scoffed. “You’re just amazing. Minhyuk doesn’t know, does he? No, you know what, I’m telling him.” He reached for his phone.

“HOLD ON!” Kihyun scrambled to get off his bed and caught hold of Hyungwon’s wrist before he could unlock his phone. “I’ll tell him! I will tell him so you don’t.”

“Do it in front of me. Do it now.” Hyungwon wasn’t budging this time.

“What? No! I mean, I’ll text him, he’s probably-“

“Playing games but this is more important. Call him.”

“Hyungwon-ah-“

Hyungwon snatched his hand back and quickly clicked on Minhyuk’s contact.

Kihyun’s request died on his lips the moment he heard the ringer. Hyungwon had put the phone on speaker. “He won’t answer.” He said. He prayed.

“If he does you’re telling him.”

“And if he doesn’t-?”

“Hello? Wonwon?”

Kihyun could have shot himself.

“Minhyuk, Kihyun has something to say to you.” Hyungwon held the phone out for him to take.

Kihyun looked at the phone and at Hyungwon’s resolute eyes before accepting the phone from his outstretched hands. He took the phone off speaker and ignored Hyungwon’s eye-roll. He took a deep breath before speaking.  “Hello?”

“Ki? What happened to your phone? You were just texting me a few minutes ago.”

“Uh, nothing? I just- I...”

Hyungwon continued to stare at him, eyes narrowed.

 “Hello? You there, Kihyun?”

Kihyun spoke fast, not even wasting time to take a breath. “Yeah I just called to tell you that I- I invited Yoongi to Hyunwoo hyung’s party. Hyunwoo hyung told Hyungwon that I invited three people so I had to tell him-“

“You invited Yoongi to the party?”

“Yes, but you see, I invited _three_ people, Changkyun, Jooheon and-“

“Well done.”

“And you know two of them- what?”

“Well done. It’s good to know you will have someone to speak to at the party, because I certainly won’t.” And Minhyuk hung up.

“Hello? Minhyuk?”

Kihyun pulled the phone away from his ear and resisted the urge to throw it against the wall. Hyungwon was watching him warily.

“That didn’t go well?”

Kihyun returned Hyungwon’s phone back to him and clenched his fists. “No, it went fucking amazing.  Now he’s mad at me again, just a few hours after we made up. Thanks a lot, Chae.”

Hyungwon’s eyebrow shot up. “Are you’re getting mad at me?”

“You forced me to tell him!”

“Yes because it’s better than him finding out when he sees you cosying up to Yoongi at the party!”

“You piece of shit I could have told him in person tomorrow! Why did you immediately have to call him up?”

Kihyun was trying not to raise his voice. It was rather stupid, he knew, because all he had to do was text Minhyuk and explain the situation but a stupid part of him felt like he was making a sacrifice for Hyungwon’s sake and he wouldn’t even appreciate it. In fact, he would get angry if he found out that he was taking measures to bring him closer to Hoseok.

“All of this would have been avoided if you hadn’t invited Yoongi at all.” Hyungwon was trying to keep his voice levelled too.

“What the hell do you have against him? I already told you he’s in a relationship.”

“I know that but Minhyuk doesn’t! You’re probably hiding it from him to make him jealous.”

Kihyun’s mouth fell open in surprise. “ _What?_ What bullshit-“

“Am I wrong? Why is it that he still thinks there’s something going on between you two?” Hyungwon unlocked his phone and opened a chatroom before shoving it in Kihyun’s face.

“I ended up lying to him for you!”

“I didn’t ask you to lie!”

“So should I have told him?”

Kihyun huffed. “Sure, if you wanted to you should have. Look, I’m not trying to make him jealous. Why would I do that? He’d only get mad at me.”

“Just admit it, Yoo. Somewhere inside you’re happy because you want him to think that you can be liked by others.”

“Shut your fucking mouth before I hit you, Chae.” 

“I’m not blaming you. We all want our crushes to think that other people are interested in us-“

“Except Minhyuk is not my crush, okay? So stop with this ridiculous assumption-“

“It’s okay, Kihyun. I’m telling you I’d understand if you invited Yoongi to make Minhyuk jealous but you even _you_ have to realize how stupid that is!”

“What’s with the emphasis on you? Are you calling me dumb?”

“Do I need to spell it out?”

“If I am being stupid then what about you? Do you think you’re really smart?”

“I do, yes.”

“So it’s smart to pine after Hoseok and die over everything he does but refuse to make a move or refuse to move on?”

“Who said I’m refusing to move on?”

“I don’t see you making any efforts-“

“Shut the fuck up, Kihyun. Every time I try you and mom come up with some tactic to prevent that! If you want to call someone stupid, call yourself that. At least I haven’t been pining over Hoseok for a decade and reading his signs wrong-“

One second Hyungwon was standing over Kihyun, glaring down at him and the next second he was lying on the floor from the impact of Kihyun’s push and Kihyun was standing over him, breathing heavily and looking furious.

Hyungwon looked shocked for a second but it wasn’t long before he was on his feet and looked ready to kill. “Why, you don’t like hearing that Minhyuk might not like you?”

“Shut up, Chae, I will not hesitate to punch you.”

“Then punch me, you dumb piece of shit because I won’t shut up.”

“That’s it-“

But before Kihyun could carry out his threat, Hyungwon had grabbed him by the shoulders. “Open your damn eyes, Yoo. How is it that you don’t believe me when I tell you you’re an ugly fucker but you get so defensive if say that Minhyuk doesn’t like you?”

Kihyun clenched his jaw and remained wordless. He was afraid he was going to scream if he opened his mouth.

“I didn’t mean that you dumb shit, anyone can see that he does like you. Anyone but you, it seems.”

“Can you make up your mind for heaven’s sake?”

“I never changed my mind. You have been reading his signs wrong. He likes you too, dumbass. Now if you’d just stop feeling sorry for yourself and inviting trouble by trying to make him jealous-“

“How many times do I have to say that I’m not trying to make him jealous? Also me feeling sorry for myself is justified.”

“On what basis?”

Kihyun shrugged off Hyungwon’s hands from his shoulder and turned around so he was no longer facing him. “I don’t know, for being stupid for seven years.”

“You’ve been stupid for longer than seven years. That’s your reason? How can you feel sorry for yourself when you rejected his kiss?”

“ _What?_ ”

“He told me what happened. I didn’t even know what to say because of how ridiculous it was. I mean you’ve been dreaming about kissing him since you were what, fifteen? To think that _you_ rejected-“

“What on earth are you talking about? I never rejected- why would I do that? He never tried to kiss me!”

Hyungwon sat down on his bed and scoffed. “Fucking idiots, both of you. I can’t believe I took an injury for this.”

“He thinks that- oh my god. Oh my god, he actually tried to kiss me? I didn’t imagine it?” Kihyun was on his feet, his eyes rounder than the moon.

Hyungwon rubbed at his sore hip bone, ignoring Kihyun. “I’m too old for this.” He said to himself.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Kihyun nearly walked into his closet in his rush to put on some decent clothes. Hyungwon watched him judgementally as the clothes he took off flew across the room.

“I need to talk to him.” Kihyun said as he grabbed his phone and wallet. Thanks.”

“Your shirt-“

“I’ll pick it up later, don’t touch it. I’ll get you some ointment for that hip, bye.” With that he ran out of the door and Hyungwon curled up in bed, wincing at the sharp pain shooting through his sides. He didn’t regret not telling Kihyun that he was wearing his shirt inside out.

_*_

“What do you mean he’s already dating someone?” Jooheon asked, sounding aghast.

Hoseok looked at the younger two in surprise. “Well, it was a few weeks ago-“

“You saw him with someone? Who was it? Were they holding hands?” Changkyun interjected.

“What if it _is_ Yoongi-nim? Oh my god! I might start to dislike him!” Jooheon looked like he was going to cry.

“Ssh.” Hoseok hissed, looking back apologetically at the couple in the back. “Let me finish speaking, will you?” He glared at the two.

“Go ahead.”

“A few weeks ago I was at the pawn shop and Hyungwon was working alone so I asked him where his brother was. He told me that he was out on a date.” Hoseok concluded. “Of course, it doesn’t mean Kihyun-ssi is dating someone, it could have just been a date..” But the younger two had stopped listening.  

“Can you believe him? Is he leading hyung on when he already has someone? Oh my god, I already gave Minhyuk hyung my consent to date him! Jooheon hyung, we have to tell hyung right now!”

Jooheon shook his head as if to clear it. “You’re telling me he went on a date with someone?”

Hoseok was regretting opening his mouth. “That’s what Hyungwon told me. I didn’t see anything myself-“

“Let’s go tell Minhyuk hyung.” Jooheon said.

“Let’s go. Hoseok hyung, can you cover for me?” Changkyun asked.

“What? But I was heading to the gym..” Hoseok trailed off, flinching as glares were sent his way.

“Are you saying that going to the gym is more important than saving someone’s love-life?” Jooheon accused.

“No, it’s just- I could be wrong!”

“Or you could be right! Hyung, if you do this you’d be helping us save Minhyuk hyung!” Changkyun said.

“You’d be a hero.” Jooheon added.

Hoseok didn’t think it made much sense but he never got the chance to voice his opinion.

“Thanks, hyung.” Changkyun said and squeezed his hand gratefully. With that the younger two ran out of the door.

Hoseok looked between the counter and at his gym bag before giving up and taking Changkyun’s seat. Gym would have to wait. He sat down on the rotating and chair chewed on his lower lip, wondering if he’d made a mistake by telling the two about Kihyun’s date. What if he’d actually misheard Hyungwon? What if Hyungwon had misunderstood him? He knew that the possibility of that was very low but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d made a mistake.

The couple in the back left soon after that and Hoseok was too preoccupied by his thoughts to notice that the girl was checking him out as her boyfriend paid the bill. Eventually Hoseok couldn’t take it anymore.

“Mom!” He called. “Can someone cover for me?”

_*_

Hyungwon had really had enough for the day. Enough for the week, really. He was exhausted to his very last bones and he wanted to do nothing except for lie down on his bed for the remainder of the day. As soon as Kihyun left he closed his eyes and prayed for sleep and peace for at least a few hours. Only fifteen minutes later, though, he was being shook awake. Pain shot through him again and he groaned in despair.

“Please.” He begged. “Please just let me sleep.” He winced at the pain but kept his eyes firmly shut.

“Hyungwon, this is important, you have to wake up.”

“Please, mom.” He was going to cry.

“Hoseok is downstairs; he wants to talk to you.”

“Can’t you tell him I’m asleep?” Hyungwon fake sobbed. “I just want to sleep. Don’t make me clean..”

“Hyungwon!”

He was three seconds from falling asleep again when he felt a hand on his shoulder, gentler than before.

“Mom, I promise I’ll clean tomorrow.” He mumbled, burying his face into his pillow. “Thanks for letting me sleep.”

“Hyungwon-ah.”

Since when had his mother’s voice become so manly? Hyungwon tensed and the same gentle hand shook him slightly.

“I’m sorry, Hyungwon but your mother said I was to wake you up..”

Hyungwon shot up faster than lightning and blinked at the sudden brightness around him; the brightness of the daylight coming in from the window and the brightness of the red hair of the man sitting on the edge of his bed.

Hyungwon gaped at Hoseok in disbelief. “H-Hoseok-ssi?” In his dishevelment he forgot that he’d told Hoseok he’d call him hyung.

Hoseok smiled awkwardly. “You’re up?”

The longer he stared at Hoseok’s guilty face the more aware he became of the fact that he was a complete mess and Hoseok was in his room _._ Not in the shop but in _his room._ He looked around and noticed Kihyun’s clothes lying all over the floor along with the socks, shoes and bag he’d discarded when he’d come home. No, no, please. The one time the room is messy and...

“Hey, it’s okay. My room is way messier! This is sparkling clean compared to my room!” Hoseok reassured him.

Hyungwon looked at Hoseok, realizing that he must have voiced his thoughts aloud and felt his cheeks warming up. God, he probably looked pathetic. He hadn’t changed his clothes or even washed his face. Moreover Hoseok was speaking informally with him, as they had agreed but he’d called him Hoseok-ssi.

He chewed on his lower lip. “What are you doing here, h-hyung?”

“Oh right, I nearly forgot! Sorry for coming in randomly. I don’t have your number... I had something to ask you. It’s important.”

Hyungwon swallowed nervously and looked around to see if there was a bottle of water in the room. Of course there wasn’t. He sat up straighter and moved back to give Hoseok some more space. He hadn’t the slightest clue what Hoseok might have to ask him. “Yes?”

“So, this is probably going to sound very weird but my friends are trying to set up your brother with a friend of theirs.”

“My brother?” Hyungwon repeated blankly, still not having woken up fully. “Kihyun?”

Hoseok nodded. “They want to set him up with my friend’s brother and they asked for my help cause... I’m not sure why. Anyway, the other day I remembered you telling me that Kihyun-ssi was out on a date so I told them that and they got really angry.. It was a date though, wasn’t it? Because that’s what I told them and they stormed off to that person’s house to tell him that Kihyun-ssi is dating someone.”

“What, Kihyun is dating someone..?” Hyungwon had been able to process less than 30 percent of what Hoseok had just said. “Someone’s brother likes Kihyun?”

“Yes. I only met him today but I think he’s a good friend of Kihyun-ssi!”

The last of Hyungwon’s drowsiness vanished as he processed Hoseok’s words. “Oh shit. Oh shit.” He stared at Hoseok with widened eyes. He didn’t even care that he had cursed in front of him. “Is that friend called Lee Minhyuk by any chance?”

“Yes! Do you know him? His brother Jooheon and my friend Changkyun are trying to set him and your brother up but I told them that Kihyun-ssi is dating- are you okay, Hyungwon?”

“Fuck, fuck. This is bad, this is-” Hyungwon scrambled out of bed, not noticing the sharp pain in his side. “We have to go there, now!”

Hoseok got off the bed. “What? Why? Kihyun-ssi was not on a date that day? Oh my god, did I pass on wrong information and screw things up?”

Hyungwon pulled on his socks and shoes. “I wouldn’t say that but you kind of added fuel to the fire.”

When he looked up at Hoseok he was staring back at him with terrified eyes. “How? I’m so confused. What are we going to do?”

“First we’re going there. Come on, I’ll explain on the way.” Hyungwon grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his pocket and then did the same with his phone.

Hoseok watched him in confusion, frozen to his place as if he’d not quite understood.

“Come on! We don’t have much-” Hyungwon cut off as he looked at Hoseok properly and took in his [appearance.](https://pm1.narvii.com/6483/292d5d61e4a3aca60dafa90a4d80e805acf08592_hq.jpg) “Fuck me.”

“Huh?”

Hyungwon swallowed with difficulty. “Nothing, come on.” He needed a fucking water bottle.

Would they manage to get there before Jooheon and Changkyun had made a bigger mess of things?

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much if you're still reading this <3 Thank you for all the amazing comments that you'll leave and also for the kudos! It makes me really happy to hear from you!  
> The photo of Wonho in the tank top was the only one I could find but well, it's a good photo! :')


	7. An Strange Way to Become Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Summary of the previous chapter because it's been too long T T)
> 
> Minhyuk and Kihyun invite Hoseok to Hyunwoo's party.   
> Changkyun and Jooheon decide to take Hoseok's help to bring Kihyun and Minhyuk together.   
> Hyungwon hears from Hyunwoo that Kihyun has invited 3 more people to the party and assumes that he's invited Jooheon, Changkyun and Yoongi. He gets angry with him for inviting Yoongi and forces him to tell Minhyuk that over the phone. Minhyuk gets pissed and Kihyun blames Hyungwon. They both get into a fight over it and in the end Hyungwon tells Kihyun that he's stupid because he rejected Minhyuk's kiss although he loves him. Kihyun rushes off to Minhyuk's house upon to sort things out.  
> Hoseok tells Changkyun and Jooheon that Kihyun is dating someone and they leave for Jooheon's house to tell Minhyuk that.   
> Hoseok goes to meet Hyungwon to confirm his statement and finds out that he may have worsened the situation.   
> They too head over to Minhyuk's to sort things out before it's too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, finding inspiration is harder than meeting kpop idols as an international stan :( Somehow I've done it and I'm sorry that it took this long. I'm occupied from Monday to Sunday but I promise to update sooner this time!   
> NOTE: Idk how it is in your countries but in Korea, there's no such thing as ground floor. The ground floor is called the first floor which makes the second floor the first storey!

“Guys, I think it’s finally going to happen-“

“Lower your voice, Jooheon hyung! It won’t if they hear us!”

“I still can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Still can’t believe what, that you’re spying on your brother? Also what’s going to finally happen?”

“Changkyun stop pushing me, we don’t want to alert them of our presence-“

“There’s no space!”

“Why does everyone ignore me?”

“I can’t believe I’m spying on Kihyun like a ten year old-”

“You’re stepping on my foot, Jooheon hyung!”

“You guys are too noisy-“

“What’s going to finally happen!?”

“Ssh- I think it’s happening.”

“WHAT IS?”

“Sssh!”

“Ssh!”

“Too loud!”

“They’re _maybe_ finally kissing!”

“ _Oh._ ”

“I don’t want to see that, why am I here? Hey, is that a cockroach?”

“Hyungwon, no!”

“DID YOU SAY COCKROACH?!”

“Jooheon hyung!”

“Fuck, don’t open the door-“

 

** Twenty minutes earlier **

Kihyun had always known that he didn’t belong to the category of people who possessed extraordinary luck but the knowledge didn’t stop him from swearing when he ran out of his house into pouring rain.

Moreover, he’d closed the door behind him. Waiting for someone to open it just so he could grab an umbrella would waste even more time. (Especially if that someone was turtle-paced)

 _Just go for it, Yoo, be a man_.

With that optimism he set out jogging in the direction of Minhyuk’s house and arrived a few minutes later, looking like a drenched cat.

It was Minhyuk’s mother who opened the door and she was absolutely delighted to see him, until she took in his appearance properly.

“Kihyun-ah, what a pleasant surprise! Come in. Oh dear, you’re soaking!”

Kihyun greeted Minhyuk’s mother politely before stepping into the warmth of the house. A delicious smell was emanating from the kitchen but he couldn’t put his finger on what was being cooked. He let himself be fussed over for a good minute (“How could you forget your umbrella, you silly boy! What if you get sick?”), but he couldn’t keep still for long.

“Eomeoni,” he cut in, looking apologetic, “I’m sorry but is Minhyuk in? I had something important to discuss with him..”

Minhyuk’s mother sighed. “He’s upstairs, playing games as usual. Kihyun, I’ve given up on him. Why don’t you try and tell him to not play so much? You’re the only one he listens to. Now Jooheon has taken after him as well. All they do is play games. They also spoilt that poor boy Changkyun! His mother is going to be so annoyed when she discovers that it’s these two who-”

 “Yes, eomeoni, I’ll surely tell him.” Kihyun was already edging toward the staircase.

Minhyuk’s mother noticed his actions and visibly stifled a giggle. “Hold on.” She disappeared into the bedroom for a moment and reappeared with a fluffy white towel which she tossed in his direction. “Don’t get sick.” She warned.

Kihyun bowed thankfully before running up the stairs two at a time. All he had to do was clear up the confusion and Minhyuk would no longer be mad at him, right?

Minhyuk and Jooheon’s bedrooms were on the second floor whereas the living room, kitchen and Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s bedroom were on the first floor. Kihyun made a beeline for Minhyuk’s room and had almost thrown the door open when he stopped himself, hesitating. He listened for sounds beyond the door. He heard the distinct sounds of a shooting game but that was all. Minhyuk was pretty loud overall, more so while playing games. It was strange that he couldn’t hear him cursing the players.

Closing his eyes, Kihyun waited for his heart to stop pounding against his chest and took a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking into the room.

Initially he got the feeling that there was no one inside. He first looked at the computer desk, expecting to find Minhyuk shooting away at virtual enemies, but instead he was met with an empty chair. The shooting sounds he had heard earlier were coming from a gaming video on YouTube, playing on Minhyuk’s computer. It was probably because of how dark it was inside the room with the curtains drawn that he didn’t notice Minhyuk standing by the window, watching him with narrowed eyes.

“I didn’t expect you to come here.”

Kihyun jumped at the sound of Minhyuk’s voice and all his efforts to remain calm flew out of the window. “I- I didn’t see you there.” He said, colour rising to his cheeks.

Minhyuk walked over to his computer and hit pause on the video before turning around and leaning against the table. The sudden silence was heavy in the air. Minhyuk raised his eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Kihyun looked away at once and cleared his throat. In his hand he still had the towel Minhyuk’s mother had given him. He folded it neatly and placed it on the bedside table, fully aware of Minhyuk’s eyes following him. “It’s unused.” He told him, meeting his blank eyes again. Silence followed his words and the air got heavier. Kihyun cleared his throat again, not knowing what else to do. It felt vaguely like a tense scene from a drama. Minhyuk looked like he wasn’t going to say anything so he racked his brain for something to say.

“You said you didn’t expect me to come but you don’t seem surprised to see me here.”

“Oh is it?”

Minhyuk continued to look at Kihyun expressionlessly. It struck him that he had been standing by the window when he came in. “You saw me coming from the window?”

“Oh no, I dreamt about it. You know, like the drama While You Were Sleeping.” Minhyuk’s words were dripping with sarcasm but they lacked their usual bite. He was obviously more hurt than he was trying to let on.

Kihyun sighed, preparing his words. He took a step towards Minhyuk. “Look, Min-”

Minhyuk folded his arms across his chest. “If you’re here to defend yourself don’t bother. I’m nobody to stop you from inviting your boyfriend or anybody else for that matter to the party.”

Kihyun pursed his lips but kept his tone levelled. “I didn’t invite Yoongi to the party.” He walked over to Minhyuk and looked him straight in the eyes. “And he is not my boyfriend. He never was and will never be.”

The impact of his words was immediate. Minhyuk’s poker face morphed into a look of surprise. He unfolded his arms and stood up straighter. “Are you saying he doesn’t like you back?”

Kihyun rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t-”

“Wow. He’s even bigger an idiot than I was thinking.. All the same, as sorry as I feel for you, I’m not in the mood to comfort anyone else so could you just go so that I can get back to my video in peace?”

Kihyun huffed impatiently. “Were you not listening to me earlier? I distinctly told you I invited three people to Hyunwoo hyung’s party. Changkyun, Jooheon and Hoseok-ssi. I never invited Yoongi!”

Minhyuk’s face hardened once more and his eyes flashed dangerously. “I don’t see why you’re telling me this. I already told you I don’t care who you invite to the party. Invite everyone you know, I don’t give a shit. Now if you’re done..“

Kihyun sucked in a deep breath.

Just why did he have to fall in love with the biggest dumbfuck with the most rotten brain cells?

He knew that if he let his impatience get to him and started arguing with Minhyuk the situation would only get worse. As long as he kept calm it would be fine, it had to..  

“Just listen to me, okay? When I called Hyunwoo hyung to ask about inviting those three Hyungwon was with him. When he came home he asked me who all I’d invited. He knew that you had already been invited and he figured out that I’d invited Jooheon and Changkyun. He asked me who the third person was and-“

Minhyuk huffed and pushed past him, walking toward the window again. “Kihyun I’m not in the mood for excuses.”

Whatever forced patience Kihyun had had till then evaporated in an instant. He reached out and grabbed Minhyuk’s arm and forced him to turn around. “Listen to me!” He ordered. “Hyungwon _assumed_ that the third person I’d invited was Yoongi! I never invited him! We invited Hoseok-ssi but I obviously couldn’t tell Hyungwon that so I let him assume that-“

Minhyuk ripped his arm out of Kihyun’s hold. “Shut up!”

It was the sudden appearance of emotions on Minhyuk’s face and not the raise in volume that startled Kihyun into silence.

“You think I couldn’t figure that out? I’m not stupid, alright! I figured out what happened.”

Minhyuk’s blazing eyes and raised voice were enough to send the average person scuttling away but Kihyun? He had been on the receiving end of this glare so many times that he was practically immune to it. It was nowhere near enough to terrify him but it confused him quite a bit. His eyebrows pulled together. “If you already knew that then why are you so angry?”

It was Minhyuk’s turn to look at him like he was the dense one. “Why do you think, dumbass? You’re obviously going to have to invite Yoongi to the party now or Hyungwon will figure out that we invited Hoseok-ssi the moment he spots him at the party. Since you care so much about _Hyungwon_ , you’ll do just that and then at the party you- you’ll get drunk and fawn over Yoongi the same way Jooheon and Changkyun and everyone else will! You’ll completely forget about me because it’s Yoongi that you like and-”

Kihyun took both of Minhyuk’s hands in his own this time and yanked him closer. “Just listen to me without interrupting for two minutes, okay?” He went on without waiting for a response. “First I need you to stop assuming that I like Yoongi. I’ve told you time and again that he’s no more than a friend.”

Minhyuk instantly opened his mouth; obviously about to interrupt again but Kihyun wasn’t going to let him. He forced him backwards till he had caged him against the desk. “I’m not done talking!” He glared up at Minhyuk with enough intensity to keep him silent. “Why would you think I’d abandon you if Yoongi came to the party? He isn’t coming but even if he was, I’d never leave you by yourself!”

Kihyun couldn’t believe that Minhyuk was angry because of this. Being as friendly and lively as he was, it was impossible for him to be left alone anywhere for long. He always managed to make new friends and was often the life of the party.

Minhyuk scoffed, not buying his words. “Never leave me by myself? Like that time you went to Yoongi’s studio and forgot about me?”

“That’s different; you were with Mark, weren’t you? Anyway, that’s not the point here. I’m being serious. I could never forget about you or abandon you, don’t you know that? Hell, I wouldn’t do that to you even if- even if Yoo Seungwoo asked me to!”

Minhyuk stared at him pointedly. Outside the room they heard a bunch of voices but neither of them paid mind to them. “You’re my best friend. We both know you’d throw me into hell if Yoo Seungwoo asked you to.”

“Not true! Besides, no one has to throw you into hell, you’re probably going to end up there anyway. Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t it in sixth grade that you told Jaehyeong that the girl he was crushing on had head-lice just because you fancied him? I’d say that you’ve been heading in that direction for a while-“

“Shut up and get to the point, Kihyun!” Minhyuk flushed at the memory and Kihyun resisted the urge to reach out and ruffle his hair.

 “Fine, I’ll get to the point. I’m just trying to say that I’d never pick someone else over you. You don’t have to be worried about that, not on Sunday or any other time.” He tried to look sincere as he said this and was pretty surprised when Minhyuk doubled over and started laughing. “The fuck?”

Minhyuk straightened up momentarily, eyes crescents of mirth. “Sorry, I just can’t believe you’d say something so cheesy to get me to forgive you.”

Kihyun blinked at Minhyuk and he only laughed more. The scenario was similar to that afternoon, when he’d told Minhyuk that they could dye their hair together. The memory brought a smile on his face too, albeit a grudging one. “I was being serious, bitch.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll forgive you. But I swear to god if you look at Yoongi with heart-eyes for even one second..” Minhyuk trailed off in warning.

“Really? You mean that?”

Minhyuk nodded and smiled again. “I mean it. Now quickly dry your hair, you’re dripping water all over the floor. Also I’m not letting you bail on Sunday because you get sick or something.”

Kihyun’s tentative smile transformed into a grin that rivalled Minhyuk’s. He’d managed to end the fight. Relief flowed through his veins and sapped his energy. He was suddenly exhausted.. But it wasn’t over yet. He had something very important to discuss with Minhyuk- it was the main reason he’d come there in such a rush.  

“Hello, are you there? I know I’m pretty good looking and I’m flattered that you can’t look away but I meant what I said. You get sick I will kill you. Go dry your hair and if you’re planning on bothering me some more, let me get you a change of clothes.” Minhyuk pulled his hand free, only to have his wrist caught again.

“Wait! I need to discuss something with you.”

_*_

“Did you try calling them?” Hyungwon asked Hoseok. His own voice sounded desperate to his ears. They were almost at Minhyuk’s house but they hadn’t seen Changkyun or Jooheon, meaning that they had to have reached first. Just thinking about all the damage control he’d have to do if they were too late was giving Hyungwon a headache.

“They won’t answer.” Hoseok replied with a groan. “They probably think it’s not important.”

Hyungwon held back another curse. He was grateful that he had long legs and even more grateful that Hoseok could keep up with his pace, even though he was practically running at this point. The steady rainfall was doing nothing to help them either.

Before leaving, Hyungwon had hesitated before the umbrella stand, wondering whether to grab one or two but in the end he had grabbed two, not being able to think of an excuse to offer Hoseok in case he asked why they were sharing one umbrella when there were so many. He wished he had hidden the others beforehand.

Then again they had to be quick and the last thing he wanted was for him to trip over Hoseok’s shoelace because they were walking too close.

“If only I’d known that it was Minhyuk-ssi that Kihyun-ssi was on a date with.” Hoseok mourned. “I’m so sorry, Hyungwon, if things are crazy when we get there it will entirely be my fault. I promise I’ll try and explain.”

Hyungwon shook his head. _Hyungwon. Why does my name sound so good the way he says it?_ Ignoring the fluttering butterflies in his stomach he said “You couldn’t have known, hyung, it’s okay. Hopefully we’re not too late.”

“You’re right, I suppose. I didn’t even know Minhyuk-ssi until today. Hey, I guess this is an indication we need to hang out more!” Hoseok said this with a goofy, dorky smile that made Hyungwon weaker in the knees than he cared to admit. “Look, isn’t that Jooheon’s house?”

Hyungwon looked at where Hoseok was pointing and quickened his pace in response. When they were at the front door he closed his umbrella and rang the doorbell, swallowing the urge to repeatedly press the button. Shortly after, there was a click and the door swung open to reveal Jooheon and Minhyuk’s mother. She took in the sight of them panting and half wet and snorted. “Two more?” She said by way of greeting. “Come to join those two idiots in listening at the door?”

Hyungwon and Hoseok shared a confused look.

“Um..”

 “Well don’t stay outside, come in. You can keep your umbrellas here.”

Hyungwon bowed as he entered and dropped his umbrella into the umbrella stand. Hoseok did the same and the two of them took in their surroundings tentatively. A heavenly smell coming from the kitchen caused Hoseok’s stomach to rumble. He forced his mind away from food and looked around for a sign of the youngest two. Not seeing them, he turned to Jooheon’s mother. “Eomeoni-“ He began.

“Second room upstairs. Do tell me what all you heard during dinner. I’m making Dakjuk. You all will eat it without complaint. I will not have sickness in this house! Go on, go up.”

Hoseok and Hyungwon exchanged another confused glance before thanking their friends’ mother and climbing up the staircase that led to the second floor.

They came upstairs to a beautifully decorated landing. Directly in front of them was a bookshelf that covered most of the wall. It was filled with books of all shapes and sizes and at the bottom right-hand corner they could see a pile of board games and a stack of colourful looking papers. The landing was lit up with the help of a big ceiling light in the shape of a lotus and other smaller lights.  

“Wow.” Hoseok muttered.

Hyungwon’s eyes fell on the wall adjacent to the staircase and his eyes widened in surprise once again. The entire wall was decorated with photo frames of the Lee family through the ages. It started with pictures of Mr. And Mrs. Lee from their wedding day all the way to photos of the family today. Hyungwon moved closer to the wall and smiled at the sight of baby pictures. He recognized little Minhyuk with ease but recognized Kihyun even faster. Before he could inspect the photo, however a sharp ‘huh’ pulled his attention away.

“Hoseok hyung?”

Hyungwon turned around and saw two figures leaning against a door. The taller of the two he recognized as Minhyuk’s brother, whose photo he had seen. _So this is Jooheon and the other one.._

Although shorter than Jooheon, the other had a more mature face. He had to be Changkyun, then. Hyungwon realized belatedly that both Jooheon and Changkyun were staring at him in confusion. Thankfully Hoseok stepped in.

“This is Hyungwon-“

“Sssh!” Both Jooheon and Changkyun hissed, cutting Hoseok off.

Hyungwon looked again at the door and Minhyuk’s mother’s words dawned upon him. He blamed his injury for his slowness.

“We’re listening in.” Changkyun whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to tell you guys that Kihyun-ssi was on a date with Minhyuk-ssi that day!” Hoseok whispered back.

“That makes sense.” Jooheon muttered. “We haven’t gone in yet so it’s good. Anyway, quiet now, things are getting interesting.” With that he and Changkyun turned around once more and pressed their ears to the door.

Hoseok looked at Hyungwon, his face clearly showing that he didn’t know why he was friends with the two. Hyungwon smiled and shrugged before walking over to the door. Jooheon and Changkyun made place for him and he thanked them wordlessly before pressing his ear to the door. A moment later Hoseok joined them. Hyungwon looked at Hoseok’s look of concentration and found himself smiling again.

This wasn’t the weirdest thing he had done.

Not at all.

_*_

Minhyuk looked exasperated when Kihyun told him that he had something left to discuss.

“Alright, get changed first and then we can talk.” Minhyuk shook his hands free before walking over to his bed to grab the towel.

“No wait!” Kihyun called after him.

“What is it that you want to discuss so urgently?” Minhyuk asked without turning around. “Here you go.” He threw the towel for Kihyun to catch before plopping down onto his bed and folding his legs.  

Kihyun caught the towel and tossed it on the bed. “Just let me ask you this and then I’ll dry my hair, change my clothes, whatever.”

Minhyuk frowned at him. “Ask quickly then.”

Kihyun opened his mouth to ask Minhyuk about what Hyungwon had told him but the words never came out of his mouth. He stared at Minhyuk whose eyes blinked a second apart, whose visage finally looked like it usually did- animated and carefree and his resolve weakened.

“What is it?” Minhyuk asked, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. “Kihyun-ah, my hair is starting to look ugly. Let’s pick a day to get our hair dyed.”

Kihyun chewed on his lower lip. They’d literally just stopped fighting. Would it be prudent to bring up something that could set them off again?

Maybe he shouldn’t be testing Minhyuk’s temper so quick. He’d have time to ask Minhyuk later, maybe someday after the party.

He wanted the next few days to go smoothly.. Besides he needed Minhyuk’s help in getting Hyungwon to dress up for the party and in convincing him that he didn’t invite him. He could always bring up Hyungwon’s words later.  

“I.. You know what? Never mind.” Kihyun leaned forward and picked up the towel. If his suspicions were right, waiting a few more days couldn’t hurt him.

“Kihyun.”

“It’s not important, don’t worry about it.”

“Just tell me.”

“I will, in time. Give me that red hoodie of yours, would you? Ah fuck, I’m wearing my shirt inside out! Couldn’t you have told me earlier?” Kihyun pulled off the shirt he was wearing and tossed it into the laundry bag.

“I swear to fucking god I’m going to kick your ass.”

Kihyun faced Minhyuk warily. “What? Why are you getting angry again? I agreed to change my clothes and dry my hair! Get me the hoodie already, it’s cold.”

Minhyuk scowled at him. “Say what you were going to say. Don’t peak my curiosity and then say never mind. Ask me whatever you were going to ask.”

“I told you I will! In a few days.” Kihyun grabbed the towel and started to dry his hair vigorously. Suddenly he heard something like a cough coming from outside the door. He turned around and stared at the door, listening for the voice again. Did Minhyuk have guests? Was it Jooheon perhaps-?

“OUCH WHAT THE FUCK?” Kihyun whipped back around, clutching his aching butt cheek. “Why the fuck did you kick me?!”

Minhyuk was on his feet and was staring at him with a “You should have seen this coming.” Expression on his face. There was another sound from outside, something like a laugh but neither Minhyuk nor Kihyun heard it. “I told you I would. Now hurry up and tell me because I’m going to dropkick you next.”

Kihyun scoffed. “Hell no, it’s my mouth and my mind. I’ll tell you when I want to and you think I can’t kick you back?”

“Just say it, dammit. I already know what you want to say and I’m not going to wait another moment to hear it.”

“As if! You have no idea what I’m-” Kihyun cut off abruptly when Minhyuk moved into his personal space, caging him this time. “What are you doing?”

“I know Hyungwon told you, I can see it on your face. You wouldn’t have come here otherwise.”

Kihyun took a step back. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. His heart was slowly climbing up his throat once more. Minhyuk was staring at him with such determined eyes that he lost focus.

“Hyungwon told you, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-“

“The hell you don’t! Listen, say what you have to. Just get on with it. I’m tired of this, it’s too hard.”

“I-”

“Stop feeling sorry for me or I swear to god I will kick you again!”

Ticked off, Kihyun regained his composure and glared back. “Who said I feel sorry for you? I feel sorry for me!”

Minhyuk blinked in surprise. “You feel _sorry_ for yourself? You may not feel the same but there’s no need to..“

Maybe it was because Kihyun was too exhausted or maybe it was because he no longer wanted to hear whatever bullshit Minhyuk was saying, but the next thing he knew he’d blurted it out. “You idiot if you’re going to kiss someone do it properly!”

“I- _What_?”

Kihyun’s hand flew up to his mouth when he realized what had just left his mouth. Why, just why did Minhyuk have to trigger him so? That was not the way it was supposed to come out.. He’d screwed it all up. Opposite him Minhyuk was slowly taking in his words, his eyes still wide as buttons.

Just why did he have to make things worse as soon as they were better?

“What did you say?” Minhyuk’s voice was dangerously low. Kihyun took a step back and Minhyuk took two steps forward.

“N-nothing. That’s not how I-“

Minhyuk leaned down till his face was centimetres away from Kihyun’s. “If I’m going to kiss someone I should do it properly? Is that a challenge, Yoo Kihyun?”

 _Fuck._ “Did you hear that? I think I hear someone outside, do you have guests?”

Minhyuk grabbed his wrists. “Answer me.”

“No, it’s not a challenge! I was just- I mean, that’s not how it was supposed to-” Fuck Minhyuk for turning his mind into a complete mess but. “It’s not a challenge!”

Minhyuk nodded to himself. “Good, because the last time I tried _someone_ broke eye contact and made me think they didn’t want to be kissed.”

Kihyun’s lips parted in surprise. “What? Is that what you thought? No- I was- oh my god. I didn’t look away because I didn’t want you to kiss me!”

Minhyuk pulled back slightly and tilted his head. “Then why did you look away from me?”

Kihyun bit down on his lip. “I don’t know.. I was scared. The next thing I knew you were acting like nothing happened! For all I knew I’d imagined it.”

“Hold on, _you_ were scared? Why, I was the one about to kiss you.”

“You didn’t though.”

“Why were you scared?”

“I don’t know, Min!”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake- I was scared of screwing up, okay? I’ve been picturing that moment for ten years and I was afraid that it wouldn’t be perfect- that I’d ruin things somehow and we’d end up becoming distant. What was that night even- you wanted to invite your brother on our date! What was I supposed to think? I didn’t know how to act so I looked away for one second and then you were saying good night-”

“Did you.. Did you say ten years?”

“Wow, that’s what you focus on? You know what, fuck you-”

 

_*_

 It was suddenly very quiet on the other side of the door. “Guys, I think it’s finally going to happen-“ Jooheon hit Changkyun on his shoulder with excitement.

“Lower your voice, Jooheon hyung! It won’t if they hear us!”Changkyun whisper-shouted.

“I still can’t believe I’m doing this.” Hyungwon muttered, but pressed his ear harder against the door, puzzled by the sudden silence.  

“Still can’t believe what, that you’re spying on your brother? Also what’s going to finally happen?” Hoseok asked, looking at the other three in confusion.

“Changkyun stop pushing me, we don’t want to alert them of our presence-“

“There’s no space!”

“Why does everyone ignore me?” Hoseok pouted.

Hyungwon just wanted to know what those plushy lips felt like. He pulled back and said to Hoseok “I can’t believe I’m spying on Kihyun like a ten year old-”

“You’re stepping on my foot, Jooheon hyung!” Changkyun whined.

“You guys are too noisy-“

“What’s going to finally happen!?”

“Ssh- I think it’s happening.”

“WHAT IS?”

“Sssh!”

“Ssh!”

“Too loud!”

“They’re _maybe_ finally kissing!”

“ _Oh._ ”

“I don’t want to see that, why am I here…? Hey, is that a cockroach?”

“Hyungwon, no!”

“DID YOU SAY COCKROACH?!”

“Jooheon hyung!”

“Fuck, don’t open the door-“

But it was too late. Jooheon had already turned the handle and run inside shouting.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many of you just want to talk? XD Don't hate me too much <3


	8. All's Well That Ends Well

**_*_**

“I can’t believe we’re already here.”

Kihyun and Minhyuk came to a stop in front of the long-since-closed pawn shop. Their neighbourhood was primarily a residential area. Most of the people living there were either school children or older people, meaning that on school nights, a tranquil calm settled in the area post 10.

Kihyun stretched his neck to look at the side wall and confirm that the light in Mrs. Kim’s room was turned off. Then he looked up at their room, not surprised to see the light on.  Hyungwon was probably waiting for Kihyun to come back and fill him in on the details of the ~~date~~ movie and dinner.

Kihyun turned to Minhyuk, ready to go inside but the ‘goodnight’ at the tip of his tongue never got said. In all the years they had known each other, Minhyuk had never looked at him the way he was then. If the little things during the day had felt like putting a toe outside the boundary, this stare felt like _running_ right through it.

“W-what?” he tried not to sound defensive but the stare was disorienting and he didn’t know what to think.

Minhyuk continued to stare at him, eyes blinking a second apart, and lips slightly parted.

The seconds ticking by in the silence felt like hours to Kihyun. The longer they stood like that the weaker his legs became. He was torn between running upstairs and smacking Minhyuk to snap him out of it.  

Minhyuk moved closer to him and he went blank.

“Minhyuk-ah.”

Why had he called out his name? Maybe he’d done it to make sure that his voice hadn’t disappeared. He could still speak; he just had to find the right words.

_Right words? Don’t be stupid, you just have to say good night. Say it and go upstairs and sleep, you have classes in the morning-_

“I had fun today… with you.”

Minhyuk stepped even closer as he said this. Kihyun tried to respond but he couldn’t, his head was too light. His mind was reeling with thoughts.

Had it been a date, then?

Kihyun took a step backwards. “Yeah, me too!” Had his voice always been so high pitched? What was he supposed to do now? Pat Minhyuk on the shoulder? Laugh and say, “ _Goodbye then, best friend_!”?

But he never got the time to decide because Minhyuk was suddenly leaning down, his lips inches away from Kihyun’s.

Kihyun froze in place. He was out of time. How could he not have seen this- what was he supposed to do? He wasn’t prepared for-

Gum. Minhyuk’s breath smelled like spearmint gum-

Had he come prepared?

What about him though? He wasn’t prepared in the slightest! He wasn’t even sure if his legs would support him if Minhyuk kissed him.

Hesitant fingers curled around the fabric around his waist and-

He couldn’t do this. It was too sudden. He would mess up- he could feel it in his bones that he wasn’t ready for this. But Minhyuk was coming closer still, unaware of the turmoil in Kihyun’s mind. 

Just then, something small and dark slinking through the gap between the gate and the wall of their home caught Kihyun’s eye. His eyes followed the creature- it was a stray cat, running through the vegetable garden and darting behind a flowerpot with an uneven base, knocking it in the process. The flowerpot, which was on a slightly raised platform tipped and Kihyun’s heart stopped. _Please don’t fall,_ he thought, _mum loves that one, I got it for her after I graduated high school. It’s going to make such a mess if it breaks and I’ll have to clean it-_

“Goodnight, Kihyun.”

Startled out of his thoughts, Kihyun turned around and found Minhyuk standing farther away than before, a tight-lipped smile on his face.

What had just happened? Had he imagined the whole thing?

“Min-”

But Minhyuk waved and started walking in the direction of his house, stuffing his hands in his pockets and calling over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow.”

Conflicted, Kihyun debated between checking the flowerpot and calling out goodnight to Minhyuk’s rapidly disappearing silhouette. Eventually, he gave in and hurriedly went up to the gate to check the flowerpot.

He found that it had escaped falling by mere centimetres. When he spun around and said “Bye-!” Minhyuk had already disappeared and the night was quiet once again. The tranquillity, however, had dissipated.

**_*_**

 

“You idiot if you’re going to kiss someone do it properly!”

“I- _What_?”

Kihyun’s hand flew to his mouth as soon as the words were out. Minhyuk’s head started spinning. What did Kihyun mean by “If you’re going to kiss someone do it properly”? What did that even-

Oh.

_Oh._

Minhyuk narrowed his eyes. Was Kihyun blaming him for not kissing him when he himself had looked away? “What did you say?” He asked threateningly. To his surprise Kihyun took a step away from him. Minhyuk stepped forward at once.  

“N-nothing. That’s not how I-“

Minhyuk put his face as close to Kihyun’s as he dared. The similarity of the situation with the date-night and the proximity made him almost breathless. “If I’m going to kiss someone I should do it properly? Is that a challenge, Yoo Kihyun?” he sounded much braver than he felt but Kihyun seemed to have bought the act. He tried and failed to change the subject. Minhyuk took both of Kihyun’s wrists in his hands. “Answer me!”

“No, it’s not a challenge! I was just- I mean that’s not how it was supposed to… It’s not a challenge!”

Watching Kihyun flustered pleased Minhyuk. Served him right, that piece of shit. Nodding in satisfaction he said, “Good, because the last time I tried _someone_ broke eye contact and made me think they didn’t want to be kissed.”

Kihyun’s lips parted in surprise. “What? Is that what you thought? No- I was- oh my god. I didn’t look away because I didn’t want you to kiss me!”

“Then why did you look away from me?”

“I don’t know.. I was scared. The next thing I knew you were acting like nothing happened! For all I knew I’d imagined it.”

“Hold on, _you_ were scared when _I_ was the one about to kiss you?”

“You didn’t… Though.”

“Why were you scared?”

“I don’t know, Min!”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake- I was scared of screwing up, okay? I’ve been picturing that moment for ten years and I was afraid that it wouldn’t be perfect- that I’d ruin things somehow and we’d end up becoming distant. What was that night even….”

Kihyun said a lot of things after that but Minhyuk didn’t take in a word of his babble. He just watched Kihyun grumbling, looking like a complete idiot_ standing there without a shirt, his entire neck and face flushed with embarrassment and irritation, hair wet, falling into the beautiful, small, hamster-like eyes- eyes that were defiantly glaring into his own.

If Minhyuk was an idiot, Kihyun was a mega-idiot.

He interrupted Kihyun’s tirade. “Did you.. Did you say ten years?” If that was true, Kihyun had liked him since they were no older than fourteen. Memories from then flashed before his eyes: Kihyun’s inexplicable dislike for Minhyuk’s first boyfriend, his fear of being separated from Minhyuk when he was adopted by Hyungwon’s mother, all the times he’d accompanied him to parties even when he was clearly bored out of his mind there, the inexplicable hostility towards Mark -

All this while he had been so focused on his own feelings for Kihyun and his fear of acting upon them that he’d never looked properly at Kihyun. He’d never seen all the feelings in the (annoyingly) concerned glances, the little acts of friendship, all that nagging and the tension every time they bickered.

For the first time, he saw all these feelings in Kihyun. He could practically see his feelings through his eyes; hear his thoughts going “Why do I like this nutcase?”

“Wow, that’s what you focus on? You know what, fuck you-” But before Kihyun could curse some more, Minhyuk cupped his face and _finally_ pressed his lips against Kihyun’s. 

Kihyun made a noise that sounded vaguely like a squelchy toy being stepped on and Minhyuk pulled away at once; afraid that he’d somehow read the signs wrong again.

Kihyun’s entire face was on fire but he didn’t look repulsed… Just startled. Minhyuk smiled and rested his forehead against Kihyun’s. It seemed like Kihyun had lost the ability to speak.

How nice.

“Kihyun-ah. Say something.”

But he said nothing.

Minhyuk pulled back. “Kihyun, look at me.”

“You fucking bitch.”

Minhyuk let out a surprised laugh. “Wow that was totally the first on my list of _what Kihyun will say if I kiss him._ Thanks, bab-”

“ _I wasn’t ready_.”

Minhyuk raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t see this coming? Again?”

“How the fuck was I supposed to guess-”

Minhyuk bent down and pressed his lips against Kihyun’s once more, letting his lips linger for a few seconds before whispering against his mouth, “Did you see it coming now?”

Kihyun was furious. “You-”

“Sssh.” Minhyuk wrapped his arms around Kihyun’s waist and pulled him closer. “Listen to me, Kihyun. You could picture this moment for ten more years if you wanted to, but neither of us will be any more prepared then than we are right now. If your heart is beating as fast as mine is right now and if your head is light too- that’s sign enough that you’re ready. Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time?”

Kihyun absorbed his words in silence. At last he nodded grudgingly.

“Then would you please stop complaining and kiss me back?”

Stubborn silence was followed by Kihyun gradually lifting his right hand and placing it on the back of Minhyuk’s neck. He marvelled internally at how warm his skin was before pulling him closer- close enough for his lips to hovering right above his own.

For ten years he had wondered what it would feel like to have those lips against his.

To find out how they tasted.

To find out how it would feel to shut that _constantly_ blabbering mouth with a kiss.

His hesitation lasted a few seconds, during which Minhyuk remained uncharacteristically patient. When the drumming of his heart and the pounding in his ears gave way, something inside of snapped.

The next thing he knew, he was kissing Minhyuk.

And he was tugging at his hair, pulling him in into the nonexistent space between them till their legs were entangled and yet he kissed him- kissed him until it was too hot and they couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think, couldn’t-

 

“MINHYUK HYUNG HELP ME, THERE’S A COCK- fuck- OMG THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT-”

Startled by the sudden shouting, Kihyun and Minhyuk separated at once and looked towards the source of noise in confusion. They had got no more than a glimpse of Jooheon before he sprinted out the door, screaming as he went, “I didn’t want to see _that_.”

That’s when they noticed the odd combination of people standing by the door Jooheon had just exited, each with varying degrees of awkwardness and guilt written on their face.

“What the fuck?” Kihyun said when he saw Hyungwon.

Minhyuk moved further apart from Kihyun. Flattening his hair he asked, “What are all of you doing here?”

Red in the face, Kihyun glared at Hyungwon and said, “Seriously? You were listening at the-?”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Kihyun-ssi and Minhyuk-ssi!” Hoseok interjected, looking mortified. “I shouldn’t be here- I think I’ll just go to the gym. Also, I’m so sorry; this is all because of me!”

Kihyun and Minhyuk looked at each other, even more baffled than before.

The regret of having seen what he had was visible on Hyungwon’s face when he tried to explain himself. “Kihyun, believe me, it’s not what it looks like.”

“Shouldn’t _they_ be saying that?” They all looked at where Changkyun was looking- at Kihyun’s bare upper body.

Naturally, chaos followed.

Kihyun flushed darker still. Minhyuk grabbed the abandoned towel and threw it at him before advancing menacingly towards the youngest, saying “I knew you had bad intentions when you called him cute!”

Changkyun screamed and ran downstairs and Minhyuk chased after, promising him that he wouldn’t survive the night.

Sudden and awkward silence filled the air once it was just the three of them in the room.

“Chae-”

Hyungwon cut in before Kihyun could get another word out. “I know you want to yell but you have to hear me out first, Ki. When you and Min went on that date I’d told Hoseok- Hoseok hyung that you’d gone on a date but obviously he didn’t know with whom so-”

“Hyungwon-” Kihyun tried to cut in but he was immediately interrupted by Hoseok.

“It’s my fault, please don’t scold Hyungwon! I told Changkyun and Jooheon that you were dating someone and they got angry thinking you were leading Minhyuk-ssi on! They immediately decided to come here to warn him and-”

“Hoseok-ssi-”

“It’s not Hoseok hyung’s fault, Ki! How could he have known? He even came to our house to clear his confusion and when I realized what had happened we came here to prevent the disaster-”

 “But things didn’t look so disastrous and we should have left it at that but-”

Hyungwon nodded along, not understanding why Kihyun looked angrier. “We’re sorry but everyone was so curious so we kinda-”

“BOTH OF YOU LISTEN TO ME FOR A MOMENT!”

Startled by Kihyun’s outburst, both Hyungwon and Hoseok fell silent.

“I don’t really care whose fault it is. Can you…” Kihyun sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his temple, “can you both just leave the room so I can put on a shirt and then we can have this conversation while I’m not half naked?”

Hoseok nodded and looked like he was about to apologize again but Kihyun had had enough so he dragged both of them out the door and slammed it behind him so he could get some peace and _think._

 

Now that both Jooheon and Kihyun had closed themselves inside the rooms and Minhyuk was still chasing Changkyun downstairs, only Hoseok and Hyungwon remained in the landing, awkwardly staring around them.

Hyungwon was racking his brain for something to say but as usual Hoseok saved the day by speaking first.  

“How angry do you think your brother is? I feel so sorry.”

Hyungwon glanced in the direction of the room door and smirked. “On the contrary, I think he’s very happy right now.”

After ten fucking years the idiot had finally got the courage to kiss Minhyuk. If he was anything less than ecstatic, Hyungwon was going to throw him out of their room window.

Hoseok looked puzzled by Hyungwon’s answer but he didn’t question him. “Why are you not in any of these pictures?” he asked instead, pointing at the wall full of photo frames.

Hyungwon stood beside Hoseok and looked at the photos of the Lee family.

“I can see Jooheon and Minhyuk-ssi and something tells me this is your brother- am I right?”

“Yes, that’s Kihyun.” Hyungwon answered, looking at where Hoseok was pointing. It was a candid photo in which Kihyun and Minhyuk were in the midst of eating spicy rice cakes and Jooheon was watching them from the side with a pout on his face. Hyungwon held back a snort at the sight of Kihyun’s ridiculous, (almost) shoulder-length hair.

“And here,” Hoseok went on, “I even see a photo of Kyun and Jooheon. I also got the feeling that it’s the first time you’ve come here. Were you not friends with Minhyuk-ssi when you were younger?”

Hyungwon realized that ‘Kyun’ was probably short for Changkyun. “Something like that. It’s… A long story.” It wasn’t exactly a small-talk topic after all.

“Oh… I see.”

Hoseok chewed on his lower lip and moved onto another photo. Hyungwon watched him from the corner of his eye. “I didn’t.. I didn’t say that because I don’t want to tell you the story.” He mumbled. “I just wasn’t sure if you asked because you really want to know or because you’re trying to break the silence.”

Hoseok looked at him for a moment before breaking out into an amused smile. Hyungwon’s heartbeat faltered in response. “I really want to know, Hyungwon-ah.”

Of course he did.

“Um. How do I put it?” Hyungwon said, mostly to himself. “I guess Kihyun and I were pretty stupid when we were younger.”

Hoseok leaned against the wall. “You guess?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hyungwon smiled. Was Hoseok teasing him? Looking into Hoseok’s twinkling eyes, he decided that being friends with him was maybe not so bad at all. Leaving out all effects it would have on his heart that is. “Okay.” He nodded. “We _were_ pretty stupid. Stupid enough to… Hate each other when we were in school.”

Hoseok’s eyebrows rose even higher. He stood up straight and said, “Seriously?”

At that moment, however, Minhyuk and Changkyun (preceded by their arguing) came up again.

“This is so unfair,” Minhyuk was saying, “you always get away with things because you’re the youngest.”

“Well it’s not my fault I’m so damn lovable, hyung. Mothers-”

“Adore you to bits, I know. I just don’t get why I was scolded when you eye- stripped my- oh Hyungwon and Hoseok-ssi! Actually can I just call you Hoseok hyung, hyung?”

Hoseok blinked, obviously taken aback by Minhyuk’s straightforwardness but he nodded, not even questioning whether he was older than Minhyuk to be called hyung by him.

“Okay… Minhyuk.” Hoseok tested before smiling.

Hyungwon looked at Minhyuk sulkily but he didn’t notice, too busy grinning at Hoseok. “That’s much better.” he said.

Hoseok’s smile vanished when he remembered why he was here in the first place. “Minhyuk-ah… I owe you an apology.” He began.

Minhyuk waved off the apology even before it came. “No, you don’t. Changkyun explained everything and honestly, I think things were meant to happen this way.” Turning to Changkyun he asked, “Why are you still here? Go call your best friend, dinner is getting cold.”

Changkyun rolled his eyes before going over to Jooheon’s room, announcing his presence (It’s me, hyung, not the cockroach) and entering.

“Even if that’s the case, I’m still sorry, Minhyuk.” Hoseok continued. “Things could have gone pretty crazy because of my careless assumption. Please allow me make it up to you both.”

The smile Minhyuk gave Hoseok bordered evil. “You already are.”

“Huh? Oh, that pa-?”

The door to Jooheon’s room opened uncertainly and Jooheon and Changkyun came out, with the older of the two looking around nervously.

“It’s gone, Jooheon-ah.” Minhyuk said with unmistakable fondness. “Let’s go down for dinner. Hoseok hyung, Won, you guys head downstairs too. I’ll bring Ki.”

“Technically you don’t have to bring him.” Jooheon said. “He probably knows this house better than I do-”

“Honey go downstairs before the cockroach comes looking for you.” Minhyuk’s smile was threatening enough for Jooheon to immediately run down the stairs, two at a time.

Changkyun followed him but not before smirking and telling Minhyuk, “Don’t take too long, Min hyung, _dinner_ won’t stay hot forever…”

Minhyuk pretended to throw a photo frame at him before going back to his room to get Kihyun.

Once again Hoseok and Hyungwon were left alone.

Hyungwon brought out his phone and sent a text to his mom, telling her that Kihyun and he would be having dinner at Minhyuk’s and Kihyuk was finally together.

He wouldn’t be surprised if she bought a cake to celebrate.

“Should we head downstairs for dinner too?” he asked Hoseok, putting his phone back in his pocket.

“Dinner? Um… I’m not sure I should. I mean, I was heading to the gym anyway.”

Right, the tight-fitting gym clothes. “Oh…”

_Ask him to stay, Hyungwon… It’s just a dinner with friends._

“Anyway, I’m glad it all worked out fine in the end.”

 _You won’t even be alone with him._ “Yes, me too.”

_Ask him, don’t just stare-_

“Well then, I’ll get going.” Hoseok started descending the stairs.

_He’s going to go if you don’t say anything._

Why did he have butterflies in his stomach? It wasn’t like he was asking Hoseok out on a date.

_It’s just a dinner with friends, Won. Say it._

Hyungwon closed his eyes for the shortest second before opening them and calling out, “Hoseok hyung?”

Hoseok paused and turned around, surprised to see him on the landing still. “Hm?”

“The story… Of why I’m not in any of those pictures. I could tell you over dinner… If you wanted.”

“Ah.” Hoseok grinned. “Sure, let’s go out sometime. I’ll treat you.”

.

..

 “Out? Us? Oh. Um.”

_What have you got yourself into now, you idiot-!_

 “Why are you still here?”

Hyungwon turned around and saw Kihyun, dressed in Minhyuk’s clothes. The sleeves and the pants were a bit long but they fit him fine otherwise.

“My clothes were soaked.” Kihyun defended himself. “I had to take a shower.”

“I didn’t say anything, hamster.”

Minhyuk turned off the light in his room and came out. “Okay seriously why is everyone here? Mum’s going to yell about-”

“MINHYUK, COME DOWNSTAIRS NOW.”

“Fuck.”

Both Minhyuk and Kihyun sprinted down the stairs at once, nearly pushing Hoseok out of the way. Hyungwon shrugged at Hoseok before following them.

When they arrived downstairs, Changkyun and Jooheon were already seated on the dining table in the kitchen, each with steaming bowls of _dakjuk_.

Hoseok remembered how his stomach had been grumbling earlier and tried to push away the temptation caused by the aroma of the chicken porridge- comfort food at its best.

“Come on, the four of you.” Mrs. Lee appeared, placing a few more bowls on the table.

Kihyun and Minhyuk rushed to take their places but Hyungwon remained where we was, looking at Hoseok.

Couldn’t he just stay?

Hoseok cleared his throat. “Eomeoni, thank you for offering me dinner but I was headed to the gym.”

Hyungwon tried not to get irritated with himself for feeling disappointed, and at how easily that disappointment showed on his face (both Minhyuk and Kihyun were looking at him and not at Hoseok).

He had tried to get him to stay but he was so hell-bent on going to the gym-

“Just stay, hyung. You didn’t even eat lunch with us at the café.” Changkyun spoke up.

“Yes hyung, stay!” Jooheon added. “This is the first time you’ve come home; you can’t leave without eating something.”

“Yes hyung, eat dinner and go.” Minhyuk added.

Hoseok looked more and more conflicted with each input. “It’s fine, really.” for some reason he looked at Hyungwon.

Mrs. Lee cleared her throat. “Hoseok-ah, are you turning down my food because you think it’s unappealing? Now I don’t own a café but I’m not that bad a cook-”

The desired effect was immediate.

“Oh my god, that- that’s not what I meant!” Hoseok looked horrified at the implication. “It looks really good, eomeoni, honestly- my stomach has been growling since we came-”

Mrs. Lee cut him off briskly. “It’s settled then. Come on and sit. Hyungwon, do you need a written invitation, now?”

Hyungwon turned red and hurried to take a seat and Hoseok took the one beside him meekly.

The other four returned to their food without a second thought.

Hoseok looked at Hyungwon once more before hesitantly tasting the soup. Immediately he said “It’s so good, Mrs. Lee! Truly, I’ve never tasted _dakjuk_ so good…”

Hyungwon smiled and blew on his soup to cool it down.

 

“I think we require some proper introductions.” Minhyuk announced as soon as they had each taken second servings of the soup. “Won, this is Jooheon. You met him when we were younger but I doubt you ever spoke to each other.”

Hyungwon smiled awkwardly at Jooheon and Jooheon smiled back, revealing a deep set of dimples in both his cheeks. “Were you born in the first half of the year?”

Hyungwon nodded. “January.”

“Can I call you hyung, then?”

Hyungwon found himself glancing at Kihyun, who was too busy cleaning up the soup Minhyuk had spilled on the table. Turning back to Jooheon he replied, “Sure, you can call me hyung.” 

“This is Changkyun.” Minhyuk went on, expertly taking Kihyun’s hand and holding it under the table, thereby stopping him from cleaning the spillage. Kihyun tried to get him to let go of his hand and failed. “He’s the youngest here. He loves reading and is annoying-”

“Lee Minhyuk!” Mrs. Lee’s voice floated in from her bedroom.

“Fine mom, geez.” Lowering his voice to a whisper he said “don’t mess with him unless you want all the mothers in the neighbourhood to come after you.”

Changkyun looked embarrassed by the introduction but he bowed politely at Hyungwon as he introduced himself. “Hello. My name is Im Changkyun and I’m 21 years old.”

Once again Hyungwon was startled by his mature appearance and deep voice. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” he said.  

“Joo, Kyun, this is Kihyun’s step brother Chae Hyungwon. He’s studying business management. Don’t be intimidated by his good looks, he’s a lazy dork.”

Hyungwon choked on his soup and Hoseok looked at him with a mixture of amusement and concern.

“Lee Min-” but before Hyungwon could say anything, Minhyuk had moved on.

“Hoseok hyung, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?”

“Me?” Hoseok pointed at himself, seemingly surprised at having to introduce himself. “Well… I’m Lee Hoseok. It seems like I am the oldest here.” He laughed nervously. “Uh I am a dance major at K Arts. I’m doing my post graduation there. Thank you for having me here today. It’s nice to finally meet all of Changkyun and Jooheon’s friends.”

He ended his introduction with an awkward smile that was endearing enough for Hyungwon to choke on his food once _again_.

Judging from the snorting from across the table, Kihyun and Minhyuk were never going to let him live this down.

 

“Isn’t it kinda weird though? I mean, Kihyun hyung and Minhyuk hyung have been friends since they were children and hence Jooheon and Kihyun hyung have been friends forever too. Minhyuk hyung and Hyungwon hyung have been friends for a long time too, then why is it that Jooheon hyung and Hyungwon hyung only became acquainted today?”

 Changkyun’s question was harmless enough and justified as well, but it caused all four people involved to stare at each other, uncertain as to how they should answer.

Hyungwon glanced at Hoseok, whose question about Hyungwon’s absence in the family photos had been along the same line of thought. Like Changkyun, Hoseok looked curious too but he seemed to have picked up on the uncertain atmosphere.

A hero, he saved the day. “Changkyun-ah,” he spoke up “I have to drop by at your place on the way back. Should we get going?”

Changkyun checked his phone for the time and stood up immediately. “Ya, let’s go. It’s already seven thirty. Sorry hyungs, let’s continue the talk some other time. I’ll see you’ll at the party.”

Party? Oh right, Hyungwon thought. Changkyun and Jooheon would be there too.

Hoseok stood up as well. “Bye, everyone! Thank you for the delicious dinner.” Smiling, he added, “Congratulations Minhyuk and Kihyun.” effectively embarrassing the two.

Hyungwon was quietly sniggering at their expressions when something unexpected happened.

“Um. Hyungwon-ah.”

Hyungwon stopped mid-snigger and stared up at Hoseok in surprise.

“Yes, Hoseok hyung?”

With something akin to shyness, Hoseok said, “Can I… Talk to you outside for a sec?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm genuinely sorry for having been too busy to update till now. I hope you can enjoy the chapter anyway! Please don't hesitate to talk to me :)


	9. After The Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter name was inspired by this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn6BmZk66Ks  
> It's also what I listened to while writing this chapter!  
> I hope the wait wasn't too long this time!! <3

Hyungwon was quietly sniggering at Minhyuk and Kihyun’s expressions when something unexpected happened.

“Um. Hyungwon-ah.” Hoseok’s tentative voice called out.

Hyungwon stopped mid-snigger and stared up at Hoseok in surprise, nearly dropping his chopsticks.

“Yes, Hoseok hyung?”

With something akin to shyness, Hoseok said, “Can I… Talk to you outside for a sec?”

Hyungwon’s mind went blank for five whole seconds, during which Hoseok’s cheeks turned a bright red that matched his hair.

It was Kihyun and Minhyuk’s turn to snigger and the fools didn’t try to keep quiet about it.

It was their noise that pushed Hyungwon to finally react. “Sure.” he mumbled, pushing his chair back and rising. From the corner of his eye he saw Changkyun looking back and forth between him and Hoseok.

They walked outside to a gradient sky. Sunset orange was fading into pink, which was fading into peach and merging with the purples and blues of the night. The moon would be out soon.

There were more people on the street than when they’d come, probably because it had stopped raining. Some people appeared to be going back home while others appeared to have just stepped out of theirs. They were walking, hand-in-hand, content smiles on their faces, embracing Seoul weather, armed with umbrellas. 

Hyungwon wondered if their whispering was about what they should eat for dinner.

The pavement they had stepped onto was still wet from the rain. It smelled of dusk and wet mud. It was heavenly.

Hyungwon’s heart was beating fast against his ribcage.

Changkyun looked at him and then at Hoseok before asking, “Is Hyungwon hyung coming with us?”

Hoseok , who had been admiring the sky too, glanced at Hyungwon before saying, “No, Kyun. Why don’t you go ahead, I’ll catch up with you?”

Hyungwon would be lying if he said that he hadn’t been expecting- maybe even hoping for that. His face turned red and he looked at the sky too, to avoid looking at Changkyun.

He could imagine Changkyun looking at Hoseok with disbelieving eyes.

 “Why did you ask me-”

“I’ll be there in five.” Hoseok cut in.

Five minutes.

_Five whole minutes._

How much darker would the sky be in five minutes? How much pink would remain?

Hyungwon looked back at the two and was in time to see Changkyun’s lips draw together in a line.

“Fine, hyung. Bye Hyungwon hyung, I’ll see you at the party.”

With that Changkyun started to head back in the direction of his home, only to be distracted by a bookstore on the way. Within seconds he had entered it and disappeared.

Hoseok sighed at the sight and Hyungwon chewed on his lips nervously.

Four minutes forty eight seconds…

“You must be wondering why I asked you to come out suddenly.” Hoseok began.

But Hyungwon being Hyungwon, his mind completely omitted the ‘to come’ and of course that led to some confusion.

He blinked a few times before mumbling out a “Huh?”

“Sorry about- wow, your eyes are really big. I just noticed.” Hoseok leaned in closer as he said this and Hyungwon automatically stepped back, swallowing nervously.

Hoseok’s own eyes widened. “Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?” He stepped backwards hastily. “I guess I get comfortable too easily.”

Hyungwon shook his head repeatedly, signalling through action what he couldn’t with words- that it was fine, it was Hyungwon who was at fault for being so fucking _sensitive_ around guys he had a crush on.

Then again someone as attractive as Hoseok suddenly coming close like that… Anyone would have been affected.

He needed an excuse to escape the situation.

_Sorry, hyung. I think I have a cramp._

_Can we talk later, my mom’s calling me- gotta go!_

_Look, is that a whale in the sky?_

“I guess I could have done it inside but… Anyway, I wanted to ask you for your number.”

“O-oh.”

_I think I’m going to puke._

_Actually, I think Kihyun is going to puke._

_Maybe Minhyuk and Ki-_

“I don’t want to come barging into your room like today! Sorry about that by the way. I just had no other way to contact you.” Hoseok took out his phone- an old looking iPhone 6 and held it out for him to take. “In case something comes up in the morning and I can’t make it, I don’t want to keep you waiting. Not that anything should come up but just-”

“In case.” Hyungwon finished, taking the phone. He paused when he saw the home screen. It was a picture of a well-known voluptuous female character from an anime. He was amused but at the same time his heart seemed to be sinking into his stomach.

“Did you forget your number?”

“What? No.” Blushing, he quickly typed in his number and saved it as ‘Chae Hyungwon before returning the phone to Hoseok. He was so grateful that no one could read his mind.

Why did he have to jump to conclusions like that? His whole existence was an embarrassment.

“I had something else I wanted to talk to you about.” Hoseok appeared to be giving him a missed call.

Hyungwon’s phone vibrated in his pocket for a few seconds. He pulled it out and quickly saved the number as ‘Lee Hoseok hyung’.

“Ya?” Hyungwon wasn’t going to assume anything. He probably wanted to talk about cleaning or the shop or something along those lines.

“I’m sorry for what happened earlier.” Hoseok said, putting his phone and his hands into his pockets.

Right.

“It’s okay, hyung. Kihyun and Minhyuk aren’t upset about it so you shouldn’t be.”

“Hm? Oh no, I wasn’t referring to that. I am sorry for asking you about the photo thing. At the dinner table, when Changkyun asked you guys about why you weren’t all friends- I realized then that you don’t seem comfortable discussing the subject. Earlier I was kinda pushy-”

“Do you always apologize even when you’ve done nothing wrong?” Hyungwon cut in, smiling in spite of himself. “And you weren’t being pushy, that is why I was about to tell you.”

“But you only told me because I got too curious! You didn’t tell me because you wanted to.”

“Believe me, if there was something I didn’t want to tell you, I wouldn’t.”

_Like how much I like you even though you’re already dating someone._

“If that’s the case then why did all four of you get so awkward when Kyun asked why you and Jooheon weren’t friends?”

Hyungwon pushed the hair out of his eyes and backward. “It was more embarrassment than awkwardness.” he said and snorted at a distant memory. “Besides they probably felt weird talking about it over dinner but I have no such qualms. Just that it’s kinda a long story.”

Hoseok’s eyes twinkled. “Then…”

Hyungwon smiled. “Then?”

“Will you tell me over dinner? I’ll buy! Dinner or lunch- depending on whenever you have time. Only if you want to, though. What do you say?”

Hoseok had said it earlier too, right before they’d gone downstairs for dinner. It was a tormenting offer. On the one hand he would be able to see Hoseok smiling, laughing and being himself for a good two hours without it being suspicious and without his dumb friends teasing him for it.

But on the other hand, how much more could his heart take before it was too much? Getting closer to Hoseok… wasn’t it just a big mistake?

After all Hoseok was already someone else’s.

Even as these thoughts occurred to him, he felt pangs in his chest.

To Hoseok it would be nothing more than grabbing a meal with a friend but for Hyungwon it was nothing less than a challenge.

Meanwhile Hoseok was oblivious to his dilemma.

“There’s this incredible restaurant that makes different kinds of ramyeon. I used to go there almost every day while I was in school! It’s in Samcheong-dong so we’d have to take a bus_ of course, we don’t _have_ to go there! You can pick any other place too! Don’t worry about the cost, I’m getting paid soon!”

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow at Hoseok and asked, “You went to school in Samcheong-dong? No wonder I never saw you around when I was younger.”

Hoseok laughed. “As if you’d remember.” He said.

_Oh I would._

“So you moved here recently?”

“I’ll tell you over dinner.” Hoseok replied cheekily. “It’s a long story too.”

His eyes were twinkling more than the city stars by this point- how could Hyungwon say no, even if it meant his own death?  Shaking his head in amusement and expectation of his own doom, Hyungwon nodded. “Okay, hyung.”

Hoseok practically bounced with happiness in response and Hyungwon imagined Kihyun selecting a coffin for him, complaining about having to spend more on a bigger coffin cause Hyungwon was so darn tall.

“Great! Text me once you’ve decided the place! I’ll get going then.” Hoseok waved and started to walk backwards, still facing him. “I’ll see you tomorrow at seven!” Then he turned around and started jogging in the direction Changkyun had left in.

When he turned around to go back in, he saw both Minhyuk and Kihyun spying from the window. He sighed and made his way inside, only to pause when his phone vibrated.

 

 ****

As Hoseok walked towards Changkyun’s house, he racked his brain for an excuse. Truth was, he had no work at his house but that had been the only excuse he’d been able to come up with at that moment.

He pulled out his phone and searched for Hyungwon’s contact to send him a goodnight text.

His number was saved under ‘Chae Hyungwon’, courtesy of Hyungwon himself.

That wouldn’t do.

Hoseok quickly changed the name and sent the goodnight text before continuing on his way. 

 

**_*_**

The moment Hyungwon, Hoseok and Changkyun were out the door, Kihyun and Minhyuk ran toward the living room to peek out of the living room window.

“I wish we could hear them!” Minhyuk mumbled.

“I know right? Oh my god, they sent Changkyun away.”

“What exactly are you two doing?” Jooheon, who had followed them out asked. Seeing Hoseok and Hyungwon talking he said, “I didn’t know those two were close. Seriously we all have the oddest interconnected friendsh-”

“Sssh.” Minhyuk and Kihyun said together.

Jooheon rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch. “Are you two going to be like this forever then? It’s better than the fighting I suppose.”

“Keep quiet or go away.” Minhyuk whisper-scolded.

“What’s the point of asking me to keep quiet? It’s not like you can hear them.” Jooheon pulled out his phone and started to play a game.

“I think they’re finally making progress.” Kihyun whispered.

“You think? Wonnie looks so awkward though.”

“He’s Hyungwon.”

“DAMMIT- I died because you keep whispering!” Jooheon complained.

“Jooheon, why don’t you just go to your room?”

“Min- they’re exchanging numbers!”

“ _Finalfuckingly_! Our boy has cast his charm without our help-”

“What are you guys going on about?” Jooheon stood up and watched as Hoseok and Hyungwon exchanged numbers. “You both are so weird. Stop being creeps.”

“Ki I know I told you we should be helping him move on but don’t you think they look really good together?”

“Not as good as us but-”

Jooheon burst out laughing. “No one apart from Kyun would agree to that statement.”

“Jooheon, get lost.”

But he only came and stood behind them and watched along. “You guys are just fooling around, right?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Kihyun asked.

“Hyungwon hyung doesn’t actually like Hoseok hyung, right?”

Kihyun and Minhyuk exchanged a glance. “Why?” they asked together.

“You can joke about it and all but Hoseok hyung has a girlfriend.” With that warning Jooheon left for his room, humming to a song as he went.

As soon as he was gone Kihyun turned to Minhyuk and said, “I think I’ve fucked up bad.”

“ _We_ have.” Minhyuk said. “But whatever is happening out there right now, we didn’t cause it.”

“Maybe not directly but we definitely contributed-”

 “Can we just not talk about that today?”

“Then what do you want to talk about?”

“You, me. Us.”

“Oh. If you’re asking whether we’re dating-”

“I’m not.”

“Okay.”

Minhyuk took Kihyun’s hand and enjoyed the sight of his reddening cheeks. “Fuck, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

“Not as long as I have.”

“Is it a competition, boyfriend?”

“Oh my god.”

“7 on 10. Your reaction was much more dramatic in my head.”

“No look- Hyungwon saw us.”

Minhyuk turned as well. Hoseok seemed to have left. It was just Hyungwon, approaching the house with a resigned expression on his visage. “He looks exhausted.”

“Yes, he kinda got hurt because of me.”

Minhyuk stared at him in disbelief. “What did you do, Yoo Kihyun?”

“I…We fought.”

“What did you do?” Minhyuk repeated.

“I didn’t punch him or anything, geez. I just pushed him and he fell.”

Minhyuk scoffed, letting go of Kihyun’s hand and crossing his arms. “How old are you?” 

“He was being obnoxious-”

The door opened Hyungwon entered the house, sitting down on a sofa. “Before you two idiots ask, he asked for my number because he had no other way to tell me in case he can’t come clean. So don’t make any assumptions.”

Kihyun sat on the sofa opposite Hyungwon, staring at him expectantly. “And?”

“And nothing.”

“That’s all? There’s no way that’s everything.”

“Take it or leave it.” Hyungwon shrugged. There was no way he was going to talk about the dinner. If he told either of them, his mother would find out and if that happened…

“I’ll get you some ointment, Won. Let me know if this fucker troubles you again.” Minhyuk left the room to hunt for the pain relief ointment.

Kihyun raised his eyebrow at Hyungwon. “You’re lying to me now?”

“Stop acting like you know everything about me-”

“After ten unbearable years of being your step brother? It’s okay, though. You will tell me eventually. How’s your hip?”

“Blue and black, thanks to you.”

Kihyun bit his lip. “Sorry.”

“Are you apologizing, shorty?”

“Do you want worse injuries?”

Hyungwon scoffed and picked up his phone. Hoseok’s goodnight text glared at him. “Can we… Can we go home, please?”

Kihyun furrowed his eyebrows and got up, walking over to Hyungwon. “Are you really hurt? Lift your shirt.”

Hyungwon put his phone aside immediately. “Relax, I’m just tired.”

“Let me see-”

“Here!” Minhyuk had returned with the ointment. “Should I apply it for you?”

His eyes still on Hyungwon’s slumped form, Kihyun said, “We’ll just... take it home.”

Minhyuk glanced at Hyungwon before nodding, giving the ointment to Kihyun. 

Hyungwon stood up and made his way to the door.

Kihyun and Minhyuk watched him walk out before facing each other. Kihyun was apologetic. “He needs me.”

Minhyuk nodded. “Of course. Go on, don’t keep him waiting.”

“How are you suddenly being so understanding, huh? This is strange.”

Minhyuk only smiled. “Let’s go on a date tomorrow.”

“D-date?”

Minhyuk grinned before pushing Kihyun towards the door. “Go. I’ll text you.”

“Okay but do we have the time-”

“Go, Kihyun.”

“Bye.”

Minhyuk waved.

 

It was nearly seven thirty and Hyungwon and Kihyun had almost reached their home.

 “I really am sorry for pushing you. I lost my temper but that’s no excuse-”

 “I know, Kihyun. It’s alright. Let’s just leave it at me playing a big role in you and Minhyuk coming together.” Truth was, his hip didn’t hurt that much anymore. He smirked. “I’m really happy that I don’t have to watch you and Minhyuk pining after each other anymore.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me all this while, bitch.” Kihyun said but there was no bite to his words.

“I did! I knew you wouldn’t believe me if I told you liked you so I told you that he _didn’t_ like you. You know, reverse psychology or whatever.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes. “Well all’s well that ends well, I guess. Min…”

“Why did you suddenly trail off?”

“Nothing.”

Hyungwon snickered. “Go on, hamster. There’s no need to get shy around me. Do you want to talk about what we witnessed earlier today? You with your tongue down- alright, alright! There’s no need to get violent now!”

Kihyun shook his fist and glared in warning. “You better not test me, beanpole.”

“Geez. Don’t you know what Gandhi said? Non-violence is the-”

“Oh, it’s Mrs. Kim.”

Mrs. Kim was standing at the gate, wearing a big smile. “I got a call from Minhyuk’s mother. Is it true?”

Kihyun turned red again. “I can’t believe you both talked about it on the phone!”

Mrs. Kim squealed and pulled him in for a tight hug. “You really did it? I’m so proud of you!”

“I- I can’t breathe.” Kihyun protested weakly. “Help.” He said to Hyungwon, who shrugged at him helplessly before walking inside.

“Mom!” Kihyun finally managed to pull himself free. “Hold on- are you crying?”

“As if.” Mrs. Kim mumbled, trying to wipe her eyes discretely. “I was cutting onions for dinner.”

“We already ate dinner! Didn’t you?”

“Oh right, Hyungwon texted me that too. Where is he?”

“He went inside.”

“Let us go in too. I want to hear everything and you’re not allowed to leave a single thing out.”

“I know I can’t win against you.” Kihyun laughed. “Let’s go, I’ll help you cook.” With that they went inside as well, with Kihyun’s arm around Mrs. Kim’s shoulder.

 

It took all of Hyungwon’s strength not to collapse onto his bed as soon as he was back in his room. He closed the door behind him and placed his phone on his desk before twisting and checking on his bruise.

“You’re pathetic, Chae.” he muttered, sitting down on his bed and applying some of the cream. After he was done, he put the tube on his bedside table and curled up on his bed.

His hip had stopped hurting a while back but the ache had not gone. The kind of ache he was feeling- there was no ointment for it, after all. However, it was easier to blame his sour mood on his bruise or on tiredness. Much easier than to admit that he was petty and immature.

Hyungwon turned over on his back and stared up at the ceiling, half covered with peeling glow-in-the-dark stickers. He hoped Hoseok had not noticed them when he’d come to wake him up.

Even with the room door shut, he could hear his mother’s excited voice from downstairs.

Hyungwon _was_ happy for Kihyun, there was no doubt about that… But what was this uncomfortable feeling in his chest? Why was there a bitter taste in his mouth?

He closed his eyes. This can’t be jealousy. It had better fucking not be-

Kihyun was his brother; he ought to be happy for him!

And he was… Couldn’t he be happy and sad at the same time?

 “Ugh.”

Hyungwon got up to take his phone and returned to lying on his bed. It was no good being lost in his thoughts like this. He opened Instagram and clicked on the search icon, trying to find the willpower to _not_ do it.

To _not_ type Lee Hoseok and hit search.

He had been able to control himself for the longest time- ever since Hoseok had first walked into the pawn shop and caught his attention.

How?

It was because he knew that the moment he found his Instagram account, he’d hunt through it for a photo of Hoseok and his girlfriend and it would be the best and the worst way to cure him of his crush.

For the entire time he’d liked Hoseok he’d been able to resist the temptation, simply because he didn’t want to find out what she looked like and think, “So this is my competition.”

Because there was no competition.

But Hyungwon was, after all, human and in defence of his next action- when humans are feeling bad, they are fully likely to find a way to make themselves feel _worse._

So he did it and it took him all of ten seconds to find Hoseok’s Instagram account.

_lee-hoseok._

Hyungwon clicked on the profile, hoping that it was a private account.

It wasn’t.

Of course it wasn’t.

Hyungwon counted to five before clicking on the latest photo- which had been uploaded today. The moment it opened, he let out a soft ‘fuck’, before locking his phone and placing it on the bedside table.

He couldn’t do this.

How dare Hoseok put up photos like this-

Had he no idea what it could do to some- Hyungwon?

He absolutely could not ever see that photo again.

Five seconds later, Hyungwon picked up his phone and unlocked his phone once again.

 

“Are you kidding me?”

Hyungwon locked his phone again turned over onto his stomach to scream into his pillow.

All he could think was just how _deep_ was the neck of the shirt Hoseok had been wearing in the photo.

…Or was it a bathrobe?

Not to mention how the colour of his lips was almost the same as his hair.

His phone vibrated suddenly and he flinched before reaching for it warily. It was just a text from Hyunwoo though.

 

He couldn’t believe that the party was in just two days.

 

 

He wondered if he should tell Hyunwoo about Kihyun and Minhyuk but decided against it. He was just going to sleep and maybe tomorrow he wouldn’t feel as pathetic as he did today.

Until of course, he saw Hoseok’s beautiful face and remembered that he had tried to stalk him.

Speaking of Hoseok, he should ask him if he had to work on the weekends as well.

 

Hyungwon paused, before sending a tentative ‘Is 9 okay?’ Hoseok’s reply was instantaneous.

 

 

Hyungwon sighed and kept his phone aside. Who would have thought that texting Hoseok would be so easy? He could hardly believe that the man in the photo he’d seen and the one he’d just talked to were the same person.

He heard the stairs creaking and closed his eyes at once. Moments later, the door opened and Kihyun walked in.

“Are you asleep, Won?”

Hyungwon remained silent, careful not to move.

He was a terrible brother and an even worse best friend.

It was no wonder that Kihyun hadn’t wanted him to be his step brother.

Hyungwon tried to breathe as one would while being asleep and waited for Kihyun to go. He was expecting to hear Kihyun moving around, proceeding with his endless nightly routine. To his immense surprise, though, he felt his bed dipping in the corner with Kihyun’s weight.

“Something is up with you.” Kihyun said, adjusting Hyungwon’s blanket so it was covering him properly. “For some reason I don’t think it’s because I pushed you.” His words were followed by a soft sigh. “It has something to do with your talk with Hoseok hyung, doesn’t it?”

Hyungwon lay stiller than ever.

“Whatever it is, I hope you don’t let it bother you too much. Talking about it can help. I hope you know that you can tell me.” Kihyun patted Hyungwon’s hair lightly. Another pause followed, during Hyungwon heard a faint sniffing.

Was Kihyun… crying?

Had he actually made him cry with his behaviour?

He could hardly believe his ears. Kihyun wasn’t exactly the type to get emotional because of such things. It was time to end the act, it seemed. He would have to get up and tell Kihyun the truth.

Kihyun sniffed again.

Hyungwon mentally prepared himself to comfort Kihyun, maybe even hug him once he’d sat up. He was on the _brink_ of opening his eyes when Kihyun’s sudden outburst kept him from moving.

“Stop using my shampoo, dammit! I can smell it, you know!”

That was what the sniffing had been?

Hyungwon pushed the idea down into a chest and locked it.

“Anyway, no point yelling at you right now. Sleep…”

Hyungwon decided that he would do just that and maybe the next morning he’d wake up without the strange feeling in his chest.

_*_

At 10 that night, after the last customer had left, Hoseok helped his mother close the café before they headed home. As usual, his mother told him all about her day while he fixed her a cup of chamomile tea. She was particularly excited about meeting Changkyun and Jooheon’s friends.

 “They were so polite and sweet! What were their names again, Minhyuk who is Jooheon’s older brother and…” She trailed off.

“Kihyun.” Hoseok supplied, placing the tea in front of his mother and taking the chair opposite hers.

“Yes, that’s right! Are you friends with them too?”

“Yeah.” Hoseok answered with a grin. “We kind of became friends today but yes.”

Smiling, his mother reached across the table to ruffle his hair. Hoseok smiled back; glad for once the kitchen was too small to fit a bigger table.

“I’m glad. Did you eat dinner with those four?” She asked him.

“Five.” Hoseok corrected. “Hyungwon was there too. You remember Hyungwon?”

His mother took a sip of the tea and hummed in appreciation. “Is he the one you’re going to clean the pawn shop with everyday? The tall model-like one you told me about?”

“Yes, that’s him. He’s Kihyun’s step brother.”

“Step brother? Oh, that’s the family Mrs. Cho was talking about. She mentioned how difficult the two boys were growing up. How brave of their mother-”

“Mom!” Hoseok protested at once.

His mother looked sheepish. Placing down her cup of tea she said, “You’re right, I’m sorry. I won’t entertain or participate in such talk again. In fact, I will be sure to tell Mrs. Cho what nice boys they are!”

Hoseok laughed. “You haven’t even met Hyungwon, how do you know if he’s nice?”

“Well if you like him I’m sure that he’s nice!” His mother justified.

Amused smile fading, Hoseok raised his eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t he the one that helped you to buy the pendant? Didn’t you talk about how helpful he was?”

“Oh! Yes, that’s him.” He nodded slowly as he recalled telling his mother about Hyungwon.

“That means I can tell Mrs. Cho how nice they are!”

Hoseok nodded once again before reaching for the cup and taking a sip of the tea.

_Just because I like them doesn’t mean they’re nice, mom. I’ve been wrong before, haven’t I?_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kind comments and your support!! BTW Alligator fourth win!!! Wipe my happy tears TT Oh and happy birthday to Wonho!!! (Though it's not his birthday anymore in Korea) DID Y'ALL SEE THE PHOTO WON PUT UP? !!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3 Comments are more than welcome ^-^


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